Department for Transport

London Underground: Disability

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans are in place to provide more step-free access at London Underground stations.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Transport is a devolved matter in London and therefore the responsibility of the Mayor and Transport for London (TfL). In October 2014 the Mayor announced an extra £76 million partnership fund for step-free access schemes where contributions can be found from developers and other third parties, including the boroughs. TfL is carrying out a review of all accessible information, and will be working with disabled people, and the organisations that represent them, to ensure their feedback is incorporated into any improvements.

Flood Control: Roads

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that water companies and local authorities have sufficient capacity to keep water gulleys clear of blockages since the recent floods in England; and what information his Department collects from such authorities about the scheduling of such work.

Andrew Jones: The Department for Transport wrote to local highway authorities in England in October 2015 reminding them ahead of the winter season to ensure drains and gullies that fall under their responsibility are inspected and cleaned in order to help reduce the risk of surface water flooding. A copy of this letter can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/472041/151027-andrew-jones-letter-salt.pdf The Department for Transport also endorses “Well maintained Highways” the code of practice on highway maintenance published by the UK Roads Liaison Group. The code explains that it is the responsibility of local highway authorities to ensure that water gulleys are clear of blockages, particularly in areas susceptible to flooding and advises that drainage systems should be free of obstructions at all times and recommends an appropriate inspection and cleansing regime to deliver this. In addition it makes it clear the frequency of emptying will also depend upon the location, extent of tree cover, level of rainfall, the extent of kerbing and the frequency of sweeping. The Department for Transport does not collect information from either authorities or water companies as the inspection and cleansing regime is entirely an operational matter for them.

Cycling

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to increase cycling among (a) women and (b) older people.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Government remains committed to its manifesto target to double the number of journeys made by bicycle. In order to achieve this, all potential cyclists’ needs must be considered, including women and older people. The Government recently reaffirmed its commitment to cycling and walking, with SR2015 announcing funding support of over £300m. In addition, Highways England has committed to provide a safer, integrated and more accessible strategic road network for cyclists and other vulnerable road users.By improving existing cycle provision and ensuring that cyclists are considered when designing and building new infrastructure then our roads will be more appealing to cyclists of all ages and ability. The Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, to be published in summer 2016, will fully explain the Government’s investment strategy for cycling and walking.

Cycling

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent analysis his Department has made of levels of cycling among different age and gender groups.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The number of cycle trips per person per year for different age and gender groups are given in the table (based on data for England in 2014) are given in the table. MalesFemalesAll people0-162261417-203051821-2933132330-3933162540-4938102450-5929112060-692261470+1427All ages28918

Cycling

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what data his Department holds on the correlation between cycle usage and household income.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The number of cycle trips and distance cycled per person per year for different household income levels (based on data for households in England in 2014) are given in the table.  Real household income quintile  Lowest real income levelSecond levelThird levelFourth levelHighest real income levelAll income levelsCycle trips per person per year211515182118Distance cycled (miles) per person per year504643648858

Air Passenger Duty: Scotland

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Ministers in the Scottish Government on the transfer of air passenger duty to that government.

Mr Robert Goodwill: No such discussion have taken place. Decisions on taxation, including Air Passenger Duty, are of course a matter for HM Treasury.

M60: Noise

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Topical Transport Question to him on 10 December 2015, Official Report, column 1129, on traffic noise on the M60 effecting the residents of Thompson Close, Denton, whether he will meet with the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish to discuss this case.

Andrew Jones: Highways England representatives met with the Hon. Member on 22 January 2016 to discuss the possibility of mitigating the effect of noise from traffic using the M60 Motorway adjacent to Thompson Close. As Roads Minister I am happy to meet with the Hon. Member to discuss the position further.

Bus Services: Standards

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2015 to Question 17180, how many discussions he has had each year since 2010 with the Senior Traffic Commissioner and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency on bus punctuality enforcement issues.

Andrew Jones: Departmental Ministers and officials have held meetings with the Senior Traffic Commissioner and with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency since 2010, but the precise number going back to 2010 including bus enforcement punctuality issues is not calculable. It is worth mentioning that bus punctuality has improved, for example the punctuality of non-frequent bus services (i.e. services that run less than six times per hour) has improved from 80% in 2009/10 to 83% in 2014/15.

Cycling

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to monitor and evaluate levels of cycling and attitudes to cycling in (a) London, (b) the Cycle Cities and (c) the rest of the UK.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Transport is largely a devolved matter in the UK, and the delivery of scheme-level monitoring and evaluation is the responsibility of the transport authority implementing the intervention. In London, transport is the responsibility of the Mayor and Transport for London (TfL). The Department has no direct involvement and therefore does not undertake monitoring and evaluation of cycling levels or attitudes in London; this work is the responsibility of Transport for London. Outside of London, there are a number of work-streams that the Department is involved in which directly or indirectly monitor uptake of and / or attitudes to cycling. These are listed below. Much of this monitoring and evaluation work applies to England only; where the work expands geographically, this is clarified below. The Department is working with the Eight Cycle Cities on the Cycling Ambition to capture evidence on levels of cycling and attitudes to cycling. Active Lives Survey (formerly known as the Active People Survey) publishes data on cycling by adults in England. This is available at Local Authority level, and DfT is currently funding a temporary boost in numbers of people completing the survey in Cambridge, Norwich and Oxford. On attitudes to cycling, we fund a specific transport module on the British Social Attitudes survey. The National Travel Survey (NTS) also captures information on uptake of cycling. From 2013 onwards, the National Travel Survey has covered England only. The Department will deliver an analysis of programme-level findings (also known as a ‘meta-analysis’) from the twelve Large Projects from the Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF) 2011 -15. We estimate around a third of LSTF funding is invested in cycling interventions. An interim meta-analysis was published in November 2015 and a final meta-analysis is due Spring 2017.

Cycling and Walking

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will undertake a survey of existing cycling and walking infrastructure in English local authorities.

Mr Robert Goodwill: On a local level, provision of cycling and walking infrastructure is for local authorities. The Department encourages them to ensure cycling and walking are considered as part of the process of planning new development. The Government will continue to support sustainable transport with a new £580 million ‘Access’ fund. This will build on the legacy of the Local Sustainable Transport Fund and support growth in both cycling and walking.

Cycling: Safety

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's press release of 13 January 2016, entitled Transport sector all geared up for winter weather, what plans his Department has to ensure safety of cyclists in the event of bad weather.

Mr Robert Goodwill: We would advise all road users including cyclists to take extra care when cycling in wet or icy conditions. In particular when it is icy, cyclists should to stick to treated roads wherever possible. The responsibility for the treatment and maintenance of the road network rests with the relevant highway authority. Section 41a of the Transport Act 1980 as amended, places highway authorities “under a duty to ensure as far as is reasonably practicable, that safe passage along a highway is not endangered by snow and ice”. In this respect, in October last year I wrote to the leaders of all local highway authorities reminding them of their responsibilities regarding preparation for winter and the need for robust contingency plans in place to mitigate against any significant weather we may encounter over the winter period. The Department for Transport (DfT) also continues to play its part to ensure we stay through the 2015/16 winter season well prepared. This includes continuing to maintain a substantial national emergency salt reserve, first set up by the Coalition government, and having a robust distribution process in place, if for any reason this salt of last resort is needed to be allocated. The Department has also published a small amount of additional guidance for highway authorities in Local Transport Note 1/12 “Shared Use Routes for Cyclists and Pedestrians”.

Pedestrians: Accidents

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to reduce accidents involving pedestrians and (a) cyclists, (b) motorcyclists, (c) cars and (d) heavy goods vehicles.

Andrew Jones: The Government has a Manifesto commitment to reduce the number of cyclists and other road users killed or injured on our roads every year. The British Road Safety Statement, published on 21 December 2015, sets out the Government’s vision, values and priorities for improving the safety of Britain’s roads for all road users. The Government is committed to cycling and walking and making it easier for people to choose them as sustainable travel options. The Government laid an amendment to the Infrastructure Bill that would place into law a commitment of the Government to produce a Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS). On 17 December 2015, the Government published a CWIS overview document outlining the timescales and work plan for production of the various elements of the investment strategy which is online on GOV.UK The full CWIS is due to be published this year. By ensuring that cycling and walking are the first consideration of any new street design or maintenance programme, we will ensure our streets are safer for our most vulnerable road users. My Department issued revised guidance in January 2013 aimed mainly at local traffic authorities who are responsible for setting speed limits on local roads. Traffic authorities are asked to keep their speed limits under review with changing circumstances, and to consider the introduction of more 20 miles per hour limits and zones, over time, in urban areas and built-up village streets that are primarily residential, to ensure greater safety for pedestrians and cyclists.

Roads: Finance

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to use the (a) £175 million cycling, safety and integration fund and (b) £75 million air quality investment fund referred to in the Government's Road Investment Strategy for the period 2015-16 to 2019-20.

Mr Robert Goodwill: a) £175 million cycling, safety and integration fund Highways England is developing a programme of initiatives to improve the safety of the network and to also improve facilities for cyclists, pedestrians and equestrians, identifying further opportunities for improved integration with wider transport networks such as Park & Ride. This fund supports their ambition to reduce the number of casualties on the strategic road network and encourage walking and cycling as an everyday mode of travel, as set out in the DfT Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy. (b) £75 million air quality investment fund referred to in the Government's Road Investment Strategy for the period 2015-16 to 2019-20. Highways England’s Delivery Plan commits them to start 10 air quality pilot studies in the first 2 years of this road investment period.These studies are designed to identify new and innovative solutions that will be funded using the air quality designated fund, to improve air quality alongside the strategic road network and support delivery of the major improvement schemes identified in the Road Investment Strategy.  Highways England’s work in relation to air quality, and the use of the £75million air quality designated fund (2015 – 20), is in support of the Government’s National Air Quality Plan.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Post Office

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what savings have been made as a result of the seven-year contract awarded to the Post Office by the DVLA on 1 April 2013 in each financial year.

Andrew Jones: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency saved £18.5m in 2013-14 and £17.0m in 2014-15 as a result of its contract with Post Office Ltd.

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on how many occasions vehicle owners have been fined for failing to pay for their vehicle tax since October 2014.

Andrew Jones: Since October 2014, 916,558 fines and penalties have been issued to keepers of vehicles that have been identified as being unlicensed.

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much vehicle owners have been fined for failing to pay for their vehicle tax since October 2014.

Andrew Jones: The table below shows the amount of revenue collected in fines and penalties for failure to pay vehicle excise duty since October 2014:  1 October 2014 – 31 March 2015Late Licensing Penalties£3.9mOut of Court Settlements£4.6mWheelclamping fees£3.6m The figures for 1 April 2015 to 31 December 2015 are interim figures and have not yet been audited so are not shown.

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what savings his Department has made from ending the paper vehicle tax disc.

Andrew Jones: In the first six months following the abolition of the tax disc between 1 October 2014 and 31 March 2015, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency saved £4.2m. The savings for financial year 2015/16 are not yet available.

Railways: Repairs and Maintenance

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2016 to Question 22808, what Network Rail maintenance, renewal or enhancement works that were planned to be carried out under blockade the 2015-16 Christmas and New Year period were deferred.

Claire Perry: Detailed information of this kind is an operational matter for Network Rail.

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the value is of refunds unclaimed by people who sold their vehicles but then failed to apply for a refund of vehicle tax since 2010.

Andrew Jones: Prior to October 2014 motorists could apply for a refund or transfer the vehicle licence to the new keeper of the vehicle. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) does not hold information about how many keepers chose not to claim a refund. Since vehicle excise duty was made non-transferable in October 2014, vehicle keepers no longer have to apply for a refund. This is issued automatically when the DVLA is notified of the sale of a vehicle.

Railways: Tickets

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many railway stations in Great Britain were equipped with ITSO-compliant smartcard readers on the most recent date for which figures are available; and how many ITSO-compliant smartcards had been issued by (a) South Eastern, (b) Govia Thameslink Railway, (c) c2c, (d) Greater Anglia, (e) London Midland, (f) East Midland Trains and (g) Great Western Railway on the most recent date for which figures are available.

Claire Perry: There are currently 718 railway stations in England that are equipped with at least one ITSO-compliant smartcard reader. The devolved administrations are responsible for Scotland and Wales respectively. The Government does not hold figures for how many ITSO-compliant smartcards have been issued by train operating companies as this is a commercial matter for them.

Cycling

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the oral contribution of the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of 19 January 2016, Official Report, column 1364, what the evidential basis is for his statement that his Department will go further still in raising cycling spending per head.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Under the previous Government, spend on cycling increased to £6 per head from the £2 inherited in 2010. This Government has made clear its intention to make this country a cycling nation and our commitment to the publication of a Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy is evidence of our support to go further in supporting cycling on a longer term basis. The strategy will set out our objectives, activities and the funding available for cycling and walking in England in the long term and will be published in the summer following a consultation in spring. We are also going further by making sure that provision for cyclists is now embedded into wider transport programs. Through the Road Investment Strategy, Highways England has committed to provide a safer, integrated and more accessible strategic road network for cyclists and other vulnerable road users, with a plan to invest £100m between 2015/16 and 2020/21 to improve provision for cyclists on and around the strategic road network. At a local level, a record £6 billion is being allocated to local authorities between 2015 and 2021 for road maintenance, and from 2018/19 the plan is to change the allocation formula so that it takes into account footways and cycleways as well as the roads, bridges and street lighting that it is currently based on. Once implemented, around 9% of the funding will be based on footway and cycleway lengths.

Rescue Services: Irish Sea

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency on staffing levels at coastguard stations in the Irish Sea.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The new National Network for Her Majesty’s Coastguard became fully operational in December 2015. Coastguard centres within this network do not have fixed geographic boundaries; the network enables workload and incidents to be managed on a national rather than centre-by-centre basis. Workload is moved around the network to balance local demand against a national workforce.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Racial Discrimination

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to tackle racist and discriminating behaviour.

Mr Marcus Jones: This Government deplores racism in all its forms and is determined to ensure everyone has the opportunity to get on in life free from harassment and fear.50 years ago Britain introduced its first race equality legislation and in that time our country has undoubtedly become fairer. The Equality Act 2010 protects all individuals against racial and other forms of discrimination.On 12 October 2015 a new Cross Government Hate Crime Action Plan was announced, to drive forward action against all forms of hate crime. This will be taken forward in partnership with communities to ensure we target the harm that hate crime causes. More broadly, my rt. hon. Friend, the Prime Minister has set out a series of ambitious government commitments to reduce racial inequalities by the end of the current Parliament in 2020.

Right to Buy Scheme

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, from which budgets in his Department funding for expenditure on the right to buy pilots will be reallocated.

Brandon Lewis: Capital budgets (including funding for the Right to Buy pilot) were set from 2016-17 to 2020-21 as part of a zero based exercise across Government Departments at the Spending Review / Autumn Statement.Therefore no budget has been reallocated to fund Right to Buy pilots.

Housing Associations: Repairs and Maintenance

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will take further steps to hold to account housing associations which do not provide adequate maintenance and repair services to their tenants.

Brandon Lewis: Registered providers are required to comply with the Home standard. This requires them to provide a cost-effective repairs and maintenance service which has the objective of completing repairs right first time. If the Social Housing Regulator finds that a registered provider has failed to comply with the standard and that there has been, or is a risk of, serious harm to tenants, it can issue a Regulatory Notice and could if appropriate take enforcement action against those providers.A tenant with a complaint against their landlord should raise it with their landlord in the first instance. Should the complaint remain unresolved tenants can contact a Designated Person (a local housing authority councillor, MP or recognised tenant panel) who has a role in seeking to resolve disputes and complaints. They can also take the matter to the Housing Ombudsman.

Supported Housing: Finance

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will set out a timetable for identifying a long-term secure funding model for the supported housing sector.

Brandon Lewis: The supported housing sector provides vital support for some of our country's most vulnerable people. The Government is currently conducting a review of supported housing to ensure we have accurate and up to date information about services being provided. We are committed to ensuring the supported housing sector is on secure financail footing and will continue to keep this under review to provide certainity for the sector.

Private Rented Housing: Electrical Safety

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to introduce mandatory electrical safety checks for private rented sector properties.

Brandon Lewis: The Government is committed to protecting tenants and has therefore agreed to carry out the necessary research to understand what, if any, legislative changes regarding electrical safety checks in the private rented sector should be introduced.

Tenancy Agreements

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what progress his Department has made on improving tenants' access to longer-term family friendly tenancies.

Brandon Lewis: The Government supports longer tenancies, and promotes them through its Model Tenancy Agreement. Some mortgage lenders incorporated clauses in their agreements with landlords preventing them from granting tenancies of longer than a year. We have continued to encourage lenders to permit family friendly tenancies, and consequently the majority have now changed their policies, and permit tenancies of up to two to three years. We are encouraging those remaining lenders, who have not changed their policies, to do so and to promote the use of our Model Tenancy Agreement to their landlord customers.We also know that tenants value the flexibility that private renting offers and not all want longer tenancies. A recent report by Knight Frank reported that the majority of Private Rented Sector tenants (53%) favour a six month or one year tenancy. The average length of residence, according to the English Housing Survey 2013-14, was three and a half years.

Affordable Housing: Ellesmere Port and Neston

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many affordable housing completions there were in Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency for each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Brandon Lewis: Figures on the numbers of affordable housing completions for each local authority area in England in each year since 1991-92 are published by the department in Live Table 1008 which is available to download at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supplyThe figures are not compiled on the basis of parliamentary constituencies.

Local Government: Pensions

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he expects to report on the findings of his Department's consultation on changes to the Local Government Pension Scheme.

Mr Marcus Jones: A consultation and draft regulations proposing amendments to the scheme’s investment framework were published on 25 November 2015. The closing date for responses is 19 February. The Government’s response to the consultation will be published in the normal way.

Local Government: Pensions

David Mowat: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had on the effective stewardship of local government pension schemes.

Mr Marcus Jones: My rt. hon. Friend, the Secretary of State has regular discussions on matters within the full range of his responsibilities. We strongly believe that local government pension fund assets should be invested in a way that provides excellent value for money for taxpayers and scheme members alike.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Armed Conflict: Schools

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government plans to endorse the Safe Schools Declaration; and whether it plans to encourage other states to endorse that Declaration.

James Duddridge: The intention of the Safe Schools Declaration is for countries to support the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military use During Armed Conflict.While we welcome the spirit of the initiative, we have concerns that the Guidelines do not mirror the exact language and content of International Humanitarian Law. We consider that the full implementation of International Humanitarian Law provides the best protection for civilians in all situations of armed conflict. The UK, along with the US, France, Australia and other countries, were therefore not able to sign the Safe Schools Declaration in Oslo in May 2015.

Yemen: Military Intervention

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make it his policy to support an independent inquiry into alleged breaches of international humanitarian law in Yemen by the UN Human Rights Council.

Mr Philip Hammond: Holding answer received on 29 January 2016



The UK supported a UN Human Rights Council resolution in October 2015, which called on the UN to provide technical assistance to the Government of Yemen, assist the Yemeni National Independent Commission of Inquiry and report back to the next session of the Human Rights Council. It is for the Government of Yemen to decide how its domestic human rights monitoring mechanism should work and the UK welcomes Yemen’s commitment to cooperate with the UN on protection of human rights.The UK has also encouraged members of the Saudi-led coalition to investigate allegations of breaches of international humanitarian law, and for their investigations to be thorough and conclusive.

Yemen: Military Intervention

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his oral Answer of 12 January 2016, Official Report, column 697, on how many occasions the Government has used personnel who are present as a quick check when a report has been received of a potential breach of international humanitarian law in Yemen.

Mr Philip Hammond: Holding answer received on 29 January 2016



We have a very small number of staff working in Saudi headquarters in a liaison capacity only to provide insight into Saudi operations. These liaison officers are not involved in the targeting process – whether it be the selection, decision making or directing. They remain under UK command and control.The role of the liaison officers is to maintain an information flow with the Saudi authorities. When concerns are raised by non-governmental organisations, or in the media, liaison officers pass all available information back to the UK. This will help inform our assessment of compliance with international humanitarian law which is taken in Whitehall.

British Overseas Territories: Marine Conservation Zones

David Warburton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress the Government has made on putting in place a blue belt to protect marine habitats and species in the UK's Overseas Territories.

James Duddridge: The UK Government has announced plans to designate a no-take Marine Protected Area throughout Pitcairn waters, and with the Ascension Island Government has agreed to close 50% of their waters from fishing activities whilst establishing a well-managed fishery in the remaining offshore waters. Work is also underway to identify any gaps in marine conservation across the remaining OTs, which will assist Territories in delivering additional marine protection through a range of marine management tools, where necessary. We will work closely with the Environment Audit Committee in this regard.

Yemen: Armed Conflict

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of whether (a) cluster munitions have been used in the Yemen conflict and (b) there is a clear risk that such munitions were dropped from British-made aircraft.

Mr Philip Hammond: We are aware of reports of the alleged use of Cluster Munitions by the Coalition in Yemen and we have raised this with the Saudi Arabian authorities. The UK does not supply cluster munitions to any members of the coalition in Yemen. In line with our obligations under the Convention on Cluster Munitions we continue to encourage Saudi Arabia, as a non-party to the Convention, to accede to it.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Defibrillators

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many defibrillators are provided in each building his Department manages.

Joseph Johnson: The provision of defibrillators in Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) buildings managed by BIS (i.e. BIS is the landlord and in control of the building), is as set out in the table below: BIS - 1 Victoria Street London - 3BIS - 10 Victoria Street London - 4BIS - 151 Buckingham Palace Road - 3BIS - Atholl House Aberdeen - 2BIS - Abbey Orchard Street London – 0 (Insolvency Service moving to Fleetbank House within 3-4 months)BIS - Fleetbank House – 1 being acquiredBIS - Nottingham (Apex Court) - 1 Whilst BIS is the landlord for the buildings listed above, where sub-letting arrangements are in place, the occupiers take responsibility for their own provision of defibrillators, and these are not included in this list.

Students: Disadvantaged

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what information his Department holds on Higher Education Funding Council for England spending to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds in each of the last five years; and what the expected spend will be by that Council on supporting such students in each of the next five years.

Joseph Johnson: The table below provides information regarding HEFCE funding for each of the last 5 years to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds through the Student Opportunity Fund. HEFCE has not yet made decisions for future years. Its decisions will be made in the light of its overall grant settlements from Government. Since 2012, universities have been expected to take greater responsibility for widening access. Institutions wishing to charge fees above the basic rate are required to have Access Agreements with the Director of Fair Access showing what more they will do to widen access. In 2014/15, institutions spent £713 million on Access Agreements, up from £404 million in 2009/10. Hefce funding to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds through Student Opportunity Fund, £’000Academic YearStudent Opportunity Fund Total2011-12368,1272012-13365,6012013-14332,0022014-15367,8462015-16378,648 In addition, a total of £116mn was provided between 2011 and 2014 through the Access to Learning Fund, and a total of £198mn between 2011 and 2016 through the National Scholarship Programme.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Data Protection

Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, on how many occasions in each of the last two calendar years his Department has been notified by outside consultants or other third parties of breaches by employees or subcontractors of those consultants of document retention or security policies relating to confidential or secure materials.

Joseph Johnson: The Department for Business Innovation & Skills was notified of 16 breaches by employees of companies processing data on behalf of the Department in 2014 and 4 breaches in 2015. The last breach reported by an employee of a company processing our data was in April 2015.

Employment Agencies: Graduates

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what information his Department holds on the number of graduates working in the recruitment sector.

Joseph Johnson: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on the destination of graduates from UK universities 6 months after graduation in the annual Statistical First Release ‘Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education’ (DLHE).https://www.hesa.ac.uk/sfr217 As part of DLHE, HESA records the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) category of those respondents in employment. The latest data refers to students who graduated in the 2013/14 academic year. Among those UK-domiciled first degree leavers who responded to the survey and were in employment, 2.3% were working in the ‘employment activities’ sector.

Apprenticeship Delivery Board: Membership

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what criteria were used in the selection process for members of the Apprenticeship Delivery Board announced by the Prime Minister on 18 January 2016.

Nick Boles: Members invited to join the Apprenticeship Delivery Board will be high profile representatives of business sectors with a high potential for growth and representatives of organisations with a key role to play in supporting an expansion in apprenticeship starts. The membership will rotate with members being asked to join the Board for time limited period, before relinquishing their seat to a new member.

Apprenticeship Delivery Board: Institute for Apprenticeships

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how it is planned that the Apprenticeship Delivery Board will interact with the Institute for Apprenticeships.

Nick Boles: It will be for the Chair of the Institute for Apprenticeships, when appointed, to determine through discussions with Government and the Apprenticeship Delivery Board, how they should interact. The permanent Chair will be appointed through a public appointments process in 2016.

Apprentices

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference  to his Department's document, English Apprenticeships: Our 2020 Vision, published in December 2015, whether the progression from traineeships is intended primarily to be into apprenticeships or into employment.

Nick Boles: Traineeships are a demand-led, high quality education and training programme, designed to support 16-24 year olds educated to below level 3 who have little work experience but are strongly motivated by work. Traineeships have been designed to support progress into both apprenticeships and wider employment opportunities.

Employment: Bullying

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the incidence of workplace bullying.

Nick Boles: Bullying and harassment have no place in today’s workplace environment and are unacceptable wherever they occur. The UK has a strong safety net of legislation to protect people from harassment in the workplace. This covers harassment on the grounds of sex, race, disability, religion or belief or sexual orientation and age. In addition, harassment is a criminal offence and victims have a right to damages. The best way to address unacceptable behaviour in the first instance is within the workplace. That’s why my Department’s supports the Health and Safety Executive Management Standards approach for work-related stress which includes a standard for relationships at work that covers unacceptable behaviour such as conflict, bullying and harassment. The Management Standards help organisations manage the causes of work-related stress in a simple and pragmatic way. The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) also aims to support better employment relations by offering free impartial advice. Acas operates a nationwide telephone helpline for employers and employees, they can be contacted on: 0300 123 1100. Acas recently published new guidance addressing the need to conduct fair and thorough grievance and disciplinary investigations; and published new research seeking better solutions to deal with bullying. Acas also offers training and business solutions including free eLearning and advisory booklets explaining how employers and individuals can tackle and prevent bullying, ill treatment and harassment more effectively in Britain’s workplaces - raising employee motivation, attendance and productivity.

Disabled Students' Allowances

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many people were (a) in receipt of the Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA) in 2015-16 and (b) affected by proposed changes to the DSA by constituent region of the UK.

Joseph Johnson: Student support for Higher Education in the UK is a devolved issue. Statistics showing the number of English applicants awarded Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs) are published annually by the Student Loans Company (SLC) in the Statistical First Release ‘Student Support for Higher Education in England’.http://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/financial-support-awarded/england-higher-education.aspx We are only partway through the academic year 2015/16 and so published figures only provide an early indication of DSA support for the whole academic year. The changes being introduced in 2016/17 will apply to all students applying for DSAs for the first time from the 2016/17 academic year, and are intended to ensure that Higher Education Institutions are meeting their responsibilities to disabled students under the Equalities Act.

Cybercrime: Copyright

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if the Government will bring forward legislative proposals to increase the penalties for online infringement of copyright.

Mr Edward Vaizey: A consultation was held during summer 2015 on proposals to increase the maximum custodial sentence for online copyright infringement from two to ten years, to harmonise it with the penalty available for physical infringement. A summary of responses was published on 12 January. Officials at the Intellectual Property Office are now giving consideration to the future direction and timings and will advise Ministers accordingly.

Students: Grants

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the cost to higher education budgets in (a) Northern Ireland, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales of the replacement of maintenance grants with additional student loans, as a result of the Barnett formula.

Joseph Johnson: This reform in England reduces public sector net borrowing and was accounted for in the settlement for my department. Higher Education is a devolved matter and the Barnett formula was applied to the department’s Spending Review settlement in the usual way.

Students: Grants

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of replacing maintenance grants on the ability of the Government to reach its target of doubling the proportion of people from disadvantaged backgrounds entering higher education between 2009 and 2020.

Joseph Johnson: An Equality Analysis of changes to the living costs support package for full-time students in 2016/17 was published on the GOV.UK website on 3rd December 2015. Ministers considered the evidence in the analysis to assess the impact on particular groups and to inform their decisions on changes to the student support system.

Green Investment Bank: Privatisation

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 25 January 2016 to Question 23263, if he will place in the Library a copy of the minutes of his Department's meetings with the National Audit Office on the issue of value for money from the privatisation of the Green Investment Bank.

Anna Soubry: The Government has held a number of discussions with the National Audit Office at a working level about the future sale of the Green Investment Bank. The Government does not intend to place any minutes of those discussions in the Library of the House.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Written Questions

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many and what proportion of his Department's Named Day Questions have been answered on the named day since September 2015.

Joseph Johnson: Between 1 September 2015 and 27 January 2016 the Department received 441 questions for answer on a named day. Of these 250, or 57%, were answered on that named day.

Students: Per Capita Costs

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the RAB charge for students entering higher education in England in 2016-17 who take up a full maintenance loan and tuition fees when finishing a three-year course; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson: The Resource Accounting and Budgeting (RAB) charge is calculated for the total full time student population, rather than separately for students on courses of different lengths or on the basis of the size of the loans taken out. We estimate that the RAB charge for full-time tuition fee and maintenance loans, and part time fee loans, is between 20% and 25%. These estimates take into account the changes to student finance and the new HM Treasury discount rate used to value the student loan book announced at the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015. We will update our estimates in summer 2016 and publish these at the same time as BIS accounts, alongside an updated version of the simplified loan repayments model.

Department for International Development

Developing Countries: Education

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much of her Department's expenditure on education was incurred on (a) projects directly targeting disabled children and (b) broader projects on education in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Mr Nick Hurd: DFID has supported 11m children in school between 2010-2015 and has pledged to support 11m girls and boys with a decent education between 2015 and 2020. DFID’s disability framework can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/487924/DFID-Disability-Framework-2015a.pdf.However, we do have some programmes focusing on marginalised people, including those with disabilities. One example is the £355m Girls Education Challenge (GEC) which runs 37 projects across 18 countries over 5 years. It supports up to 1 million marginalised girls, including those with disabilities, to progress through primary and secondary school by 2017. Within the GEC, there are two projects that focus exclusively on getting girls with disabilities back into school and learning (in Kenya and Uganda). The total budget for the lifetime of these two projects is £5.1m.

Developing Countries: Armed Conflict

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what (a) financial and (b) material support her Department is providing to facilitate the provision of education for children in conflict zones; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Nick Hurd: Draft answer The UK is one of the biggest bilateral donors to basic education in low income countries. DFID has bilateral education programmes in 21 Low Income Countries, some of which are fragile or conflict affected. Between 2010 and 2015 DFID supported 11m children in school across these 21 countries. DFID has again pledged, in our manifesto commitments, to support 11m girls and boys with a decent education between 2015 and 2020. Through our flagship £355 million Girls’ Education Challenge we will enable up to 1 million of the world’s most marginalised girls to benefit from an education of sufficient quality and transform their lives, including countries such as Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria.DFID is supporting improvements to how the international community provides education in emergencies, including leadership to establish the ‘No Lost Generation’ Initiative to provide over 251,000 Syrian children with education inside Syria and in the region. At the Conference on Supporting Syria and the Region that will be held in London this week, we want the international community to agree a new goal that all Syrian refugee children and affected host country children are in education – formal school or non-formal – by the end of 2016/17. At the Conference our ambition is that international donors, governments from countries in the region hosting refugees, non-governmental organisations and the private sector come together to agree a set of reciprocal financial and policy commitments. This will be a new model for providing education to children in a protracted crisis.DFID is also financing, with partners, a technical design process for a new Global Platform and Financing Facility for education in emergencies to improve how education is delivered globally in crisis. It is envisaged that this new Platform will be launched at the World Humanitarian Summit in May.

Libya: Reconstruction

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has spent on rebuilding projects in Libya since 2011; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Desmond Swayne: DFID’s work in Libya falls under two main objectives: humanitarian assistance to those affected by the conflict; and the promotion of long-term stability in support of the political agreement. DFID has not funded any rebuilding (infrastructure) projects in Libya to date.

UNICEF: Finance

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate she has made of the financial support her Department has provided to the United Nations Childrens' Fund in each of the last five years.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The core and non-core contributions (in £ millions) made by DFID to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) from 2009/10 until 2013/14 can be found in the table below. These figures are taken from DFID’s internal data sources and DFID's publication 'Statistics on International Development'. Delivery Channel2009/102010/112011/122012/132013/14DFID core funding to UNICEF21.023.640.040.046.0DFID non-core funding to UNICEF113.9127.4207.1192.3270.1Total DFID funding to UNICEF 134.9  151.0  247.1  232.3  316.1  Data for 2014/15 will be included in the next release of DFID's 'Statistics on International Development' publication. This is due for release in February 2016.

Syria: Humanitarian Aid

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will discuss with the Secretary of State for Defence the possibility of using RAF pilots to assist in the delivery of humanitarian aid to Syria.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The UK has pledged over £1.1 billion in response to the crisis in Syria and the region, making us the second largest bilateral donor after the US. For example, by the end of June 2015, UK support inside Syria and in the surrounding region had delivered almost 20 million food rations; over 2.5 million medical consultations; and relief items for 4.6 million people. In addition, we have provided ongoing support to the UN and international NGOs (INGOs) since the start of the conflict to deliver aid in hard to reach and besieged areas of Syria.The Department for International Development works closely with the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign Office as part of a whole of government response to the Syria crisis. When it comes to helping Syrians in besieged and hard-to-reach areas, we do not rule anything out but at this time air drops are not the most appropriate way of getting help to those in need.Alongside this, our efforts will continue whether through supporting a political solution to deal with the root cause of the crisis or through humanitarian efforts, which provide immediate, life-saving relief. A key moment is the ‘Supporting Syria and the Region’ conference in London, which we will co-host this week.

Overseas Aid

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2016 to Question 22005, on developing countries: space technology, if she will publish the criteria referred to.

Mr Desmond Swayne: DFID published its new ‘UK Aid Strategy’ in November 2015. This document outlines the Government’s new approach to aid spending which will “meet our moral obligation to the World’s poorest and also support our national interest.” It also sets out the four strategic objectives of: Strengthening global peace, security and governance; Strengthening resilience and response to crises; Promoting global prosperity; and Tackling extreme poverty and helping the World’s most vulnerable. Aid will be allocated according to these principles.

Libya: Overseas Aid

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate her Department has made of the value of funding her Department has allocated to Libya which has been spent in the city of Sirte; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Desmond Swayne: Due to security and access issues, we estimate that no DFID funding allocated to Libya was spent in the city of Sirte last year. DFID provided £2 million in aid to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for humanitarian relief, protection and immediate lifesaving assistance to vulnerable populations in Libya in 2015. This humanitarian programme is providing assistance to internally displaced persons across Libya, including those from the wider region of Sirte.

Developing Countries: Disability

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what progress her Department has made on implementing its response to the Eleventh Report from the International Development Committee, Session 2013-14, on Disability and development, HC 947.

Mr Desmond Swayne: In December 2014 DFID published a Disability Framework which set out how the International Development Committee’s recommendations would be addressed. In December 2015 the Secretary of State launched an updated Framework which set out how DFID would continue to build on this work. DFID recently produced a detailed review of progress on disability which will be shared with the International Development Committee soon.

Developing Countries: Health Services

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the sustainable development goals on the UK's aid spending on health initiatives; and if her Department will issue a guidance note on that spending.

Mr Nick Hurd: The UK played a key role in creating a set of Global Goals that are universal and inclusive and is committed to championing the goals. Delivering Global Goal 3, to “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all”, will instruct the health support we provide, with priority given to ensuring that poorer, harder to reach populations achieve better access to good quality essential services. DFID’s ongoing Bilateral Aid Review (BAR) and Multilateral Aid Review (MAR) will ensure we allocate our budget in the right places and in the right way, based on solid evidence, to contribute to the delivery of the Global Goals and to achieve our manifesto commitments.

Department for Education

Department for Education: Staff

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her Department's spending on (a) temporary agency staff and (b) consultants was as a proportion of her Department's total budget in each year since 2010-11.

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the equivalent Civil Service salary band was of each (a) consultant and (b) temporary staff member employed within her Department in each of the last five years.

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) consultants and (b) temporary staff her Department employed in each of the last five years; and what the length of contract was for each such person.

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, in which directorates (a) consultants and (b) temporary staff employed by her Department worked in each of the last five years.

Nick Gibb: Holding answer received on 21 January 2016



The table below shows the Department’s budget for each the financial year requested and the total figure spent on temporary agency staff and consultants. The table also shows the percentage of the budget spent on temporary agency staff and consultants. FY 2010-11FY 2011-12FY 2012-13FY 2013-14FY 2014-15FY 2015-16 To Dec 2015 Department Total Budget £58,242.15m£56,407.12m£57,956.19m£57,094.72m£59,483.69m£55,874.16mTotal for Contingent Labour and Consultancy£36.07m£10.18m£7.60m£10.27m£16.36m£16.44mPercentage of Department Budget0.06%0.02%0.01%0.02%0.03%0.03%The Department publishes data relating to the number of consultants and temporary agency staff each month. This data has been published for 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16. The publication page for each of the years published can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-monthly-workforce-management-information Temporary Agency staff are recruited in line with the Department’s policy, which states that ‘agency workers should be used when there is a need to cover a gap for a short period of up to a maximum of 12 weeks and/or when resources are required quickly.’ The Department publishes data relating to which part of the organisation consultants and temporary agency staff are engaged. Information relating to which directorate they are engaged with is not recorded. This data has been published for 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, and 2015-16. The publication page for each of the years published can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-monthly-workforce-management-information The Department does not record the equivalent Civil Service salary band for consultants and temporary staff.

Further Education: Greater London

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with education providers in (a) Lambeth and (b) Southwark on FE area reviews.

Nick Boles: Holding answer received on 25 January 2016



My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State has not had specific discussions about area reviews with education providers in Lambeth and Southwark. Officials of the two lead departments are in regular contact with post-16 providers; and a wide range of such providers are also represented on the national advisory group for the programme.

Teachers: Training

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure that all higher education institutions are able to fill their teacher training course places.

Nick Gibb: Higher education institutions (HEIs) are responsible for their own recruitment to initial teacher training (ITT) courses, both through offering their own ITT places and supporting the wider school-led system.The National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) has introduced a new system for postgraduate ITT recruitment for the 2016/17 academic year. Full information has been published on GOV.UK: www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-training-itt-recruitment-controlsThe Government is committed to attracting more top graduates into teaching, and has already announced increased bursaries and other financial incentives in those core academic subjects that best help children achieve their potential; including tax free bursaries of up to £30,000.The Department for Education has launched a programme of marketing activities highlighting the benefits of a career in teaching to attract people into the profession. This includes TV advertising, the “Get into Teaching” website, digital advertising and activity on social media. Officials attend more than 40 graduate recruitment and Train to Teach events each year in order to promote teaching to those interested in applying.

Teachers: Veterans

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much of her Department's budget has been spent on the Troops to Teachers scheme to date; and on what that budget was spent.

Nick Gibb: To date, £4.3m has been spent on the programme, the majority of which has been initial, one-off start-up costs. The funding has been allocated to trainee salaries in addition to programme costs to deliver the degree qualification and teacher training requirements.

Teachers: Veterans

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers have been recruited through the Troops to Teachers scheme.

Nick Gibb: One cohort has completed their training to date with a further two cohorts currently in training. In total, 144 teachers have been recruited through the scheme.

Teachers: Veterans

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the retention rate is of teachers recruited through the Troops to Teachers scheme.

Nick Gibb: There has only been one cohort to complete to date. The retention rate for this cohort was 76 per cent. The current retention rate for cohort 2 is 90 per cent, and for cohort 3 it is 96 per cent.

Children in Care

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in care are currently subject to Staying Put arrangements in each local authority area.

Edward Timpson: Local authorityYoung people who ceased to be looked after in a foster placement on their 18th birthday during the year ending 31 March 2015, who are eligible for care leaver supportNumber remaining with their former foster carers 3 months after their 18th birthdayBarking & Dagenham105Barnet2010Barnsley1510Bath & NE Somerset1010Bedford Borough1010Bexley10xBirmingham5035Blackburn with Darwin10xBlackpool105Bolton2020Bournemouth15xBracknell Forest5xBradford2020Brent2515Brighton & Hove3520Bristol5030Bromley1010BuckinghamshirexxBury1010Calderdale105Cambridgeshire10xCamden1515Central Bedfordshire105Cheshire East1510Cheshire West and Chester5xCity of Londonx0Cornwall2010Coventry2515Croydon10020Cumbria2015Darlington5xDerby10xDerbyshire7510Devon4010Doncaster1010Dorset1515Dudley1515Durham1510Ealing1510East Riding of Yorkshire1510East Sussex2020Enfield5010Essex6525Gateshead1510Gloucestershire700Greenwich2520Hackney105HaltonxxHammersmith & Fulham1510Hampshire6035Haringey20xHarrow5xHartlepool1510Havering1010Herefordshire350Hertfordshire6510Hillingdon2510Hounslow2510Isle of Wight10xIsles of Scilly00Islington2520Kensington & Chelsea55Kent6015Kingston upon Hull1510Kingston upon ThamesxxKirklees1010Knowsley2510Lambeth95xLancashire5525Leeds4535Leicester City150Leicestershire105Lewisham3015Lincolnshire2020Liverpool8520Luton1510Manchester5535Medway1010Merton4010Middlesbrough1515Milton Keynes1510NE Lincolnshire5xNewcastle upon Tyne8010Newham3020Norfolk4535North LincolnshirexxNorth Somerset5xNorth Tyneside1010North Yorkshire1010Northamptonshire2020Northumberland10xNottingham City1510Nottinghamshire3020Oldham5xOxfordshire1010Peterborough15xPlymouth2020PoolexxPortsmouth5xReading1010Redbridge155Redcar & Cleveland55Richmond upon Thames105Rochdale155Rotherham15xRutland5xSalford105Sandwell2010Sefton1515Sheffield2015ShropshirexxSloughxxSolihull155Somerset2015South Gloucestershire1510South Tyneside2510Southampton2010Southend3015Southwark5035St Helens5xStaffordshire2515Stockport2515Stockton on Tees10xStoke205Suffolk1510Sunderland10xSurrey4540Sutton20xSwindon2010Tameside105Telford & Wrekin105Thurrock105Torbay205Tower Hamlets200Trafford305Wakefield1010Walsall5010Waltham Forest105Wandsworth50Warrington10xWarwickshire3010West Berkshire20xWest Sussex3020Westminster2015Wigan105Wiltshire105Windsor & MaidenheadxxWirral2515Wokingham10xWolverhampton1510Worcestershire3015York1515 England3,2301,5601. England total has been rounded to the nearest 10. Other numbers have been rounded to the nearest 5.x. Figures not shown in order to protect confidentiality.

Children in Care

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to publish the findings of the review into children's residential care undertaken by Sir Martin Norey.

Edward Timpson: This review is being led independently by Sir Martin Narey. The review is currently expected to report to Government in spring 2016 and its findings will be published after this.

Schools: Counter-terrorism

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representations she has received in the last year from (a) Christian, (b) Jewish and (c) Muslim faith schools on the Counter Extremism Strategy used in schools; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: This Government believes all children should be educated in a safe environment, whether in a school or out of school.Department officials have briefed representatives of faith schools, including Christian, Jewish and Muslim schools, on matters relating to the Government’s Prevent and Counter-Extremism strategies. The Department received a number of queries from both faith schools and non-faith schools on how to implement the Prevent duty. The Department has issued practical advice to schools to help them understand their role under the new Prevent duty, and also launched a dedicated counter-extremism helpline in 2015 to enable front line staff, governors, and others to raise concerns directly. The Department has combined all its existing advice in the new Educate Against Hate website[1], which was launched by the Secretary of State on 19 January.The Department recently completed a call for evidence on proposals for the registration and inspection of out-of-school settings providing intensive education which were announced in the Counter-Extremism Strategy. Over 3,000 people, including representatives of the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths, completed the response form, either online or manually. The Department received a significant number of further representations to the consultation by email and post. All responses and representations are being logged, analysed and verified.We will be publishing a response to the consultation in due course, in line with Cabinet Office guidance.[1] http://educateagainsthate.com/

Ministry of Justice

Medway Secure Training Centre

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2016 to Question 22665, which ministers visited Medway Secure Training Centre on which dates.

Andrew Selous: Available records show that Medway Secure Training Centre was visited by the current prisons Minister, Andrew Selous, on 18 September 2014 and by the previous prisons Minister, Jeremy Wright, on 5 November 2012. The former Secretary of State for Justice, Chris Grayling also visited on 20 November 2012.

Prison Service: Redundancy Pay

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers have taken severance and redundancy packages in each month since May 2015.

Andrew Selous: Information on the number of Band 3 Officers who received severance payments between May and September 2015 is contained in the table below. Prison Officers Taking Severance Payments - May to September 2015 YearMonthSeverance Leavers2015May20 Jun20 Jul10 Aug20 Sep1~Total 70 1 Information on severance payments received in September 2015 is incomplete.Severance payments include payments for voluntary exit, redundancy, and payments as compensation for ill health retirements.No Band 3 Prison Officers received redundancy payments during this period.All figures are rounded to the nearest 10, with numbers ending in 5 rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias. As with all HR databases, extracts are taken at a fixed point in time, to ensure consistency of reporting. However the database itself is dynamic, and where updates to the database are made late, subsequent to the taking of the extract, these updates will not be reflected in figures produced by the extract. For this reason, HR data are unlikely to be precisely accurate, and to present unrounded figures would be to overstate the accuracy of the figures. Rounding to 10 accurately depicts the level of certainty that is held with these figures. ~ denotes suppressed values of 5 or fewer or calculations based on a population of 5 or fewer. Low numbers are suppressed, in conjunction with the rounding policy to prevent disclosure in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 1998.

Prisons: Knives

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many knives have been confiscated in prisons in each year since 2010.

Andrew Selous: Historic data on estimates of the number of knives confiscated in prisons is not collected in a form that can be assured to be of sufficient quality for publication. A new enhanced incident reporting system has recently been introduced which does collect this data and assured data will be available at the end of the year.

Mental Health: Tribunals

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Law Society mental health panel accredited representatives there were on the Law Society panel available for First Tier Tribunal (mental health) hearings in each year since 2010.

Caroline Dinenage: This information is not recorded.

Mental Health: Tribunals

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) First Tier Tribunal (mental health) hearings in England and (b) Mental Health Review Tribunal hearings in Wales there have been in each year since 2010.

Caroline Dinenage: The First-tier Tribunal (Mental Health), administered by HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS), hears applications for the discharge of patients detained in psychiatric hospitals, and applications to change community treatment orders in England. The following table shows the number of First-tier Tribunal (Mental Health) hearings which took place in England in each year from 2010 to March 2015 (the latest full year period for which statistics are available). Year Number of hearings [1]April 2010 - March 2011 17,799April 2011 - March 2012 19,330April 2012 - March 2013 19,945April 2013 - March 2014 22,008April 2014 - March 2015 22,246 HMCTS does not hold information on the number of Mental Health Review Tribunal hearings in Wales. The Mental Health Review Tribunal for Wales is an independent judicial body administered by the Welsh Government. 1 Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale case management system, and are the best data that are available.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

World War I: Anniversaries

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department has taken to ensure the maximum level of engagement by children and young people with the commemoration of the First World War.

David Evennett: DCMS is working with other Government Departments and our delivery partners to ensure that people of all ages can take part in commemorations of the First World War and remember those who sacrificed so much. As part of the FWW centenary commemorations, the government is providing the opportunity for two pupils and one teacher from every state-funded secondary school in England to visit the FWW battlefields on the Western Front. In 2015, 1,140 Schools and 3,489 pupils and teachers visited FWW battlefields on the Western Front. Since July 2014, 54,702 children and young people visited the Imperial War Museums First World War Galleries as part of a school visit. Over 21,400 people from the UK and overseas wrote a letter for the 'Letter to an Unknown Soldier' project, engaging over 500 primary and secondary schools across the UK. On 4 August 2014, 1.4 million 16-24 year olds participated in LIGHTS OUT – an initiative to light a candle in remembrance. As well as the official commemoration programme schools across the UK are organising their own individual events and projects to remember those who took part in the First World War in battle and on the home front.

UNESCO City of Music: Liverpool

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to support Liverpool's status as a City of Music as declared by UNESCO.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Government will be providing over £12 million of public funding via the Arts Council to support arts organisations in Liverpool in 2015/16. The Arts Council has also supported major capital projects in Liverpool including over £16 million towards the redevelopment of the Everyman Theatre and over £7 million towards the refurbishment of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra's Liverpool Philharmonic Hall.Venues in Liverpool such as Constellations, Lomax and the Zanzibar Club demonstrate the impact of Government's approach to entertainment licensing, planning guidance and business rates relief, all aimed at supporting and promoting music across the UK.The Government supports the UNESCO Creative City Network, including Liverpool as a designated City of Music through its membership of UNESCO. The UK National Commission for UNESCO will be holding a workshop with Liverpool and the UK’s other Creative Cities to consider new opportunities and practical ways of working together to enhance the benefits that UNESCO accreditation brings, both nationally and internationally.

Gaming Machines

Mr Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussion his Department has had since May 2015 on limiting the maximum stake on fixed odds betting terminals; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what research his Department has undertaken on the social costs of fixed odds betting terminals; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what representations he has received on the ethics of fixed odds betting terminals; and if he will make a statement.

David Evennett: On 21 January the Government published its evaluation of the £50 regulations introduced in April 2015. You can find it here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/493714/Evaluation_of_Gaming_Machine__Circumstances_of_Use___Amendment__Regulations_2015.pdf The evaluation indicates that a large proportion of players of FOBTs may now be making a more conscious choice to control their playing behaviour and their stake level. We will now consider the findings of the evaluation before deciding if there is a need for further action.

Big Lottery Fund

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what timetable has been set for the repayment of the reallocation of Big Lottery funding which was diverted to the Olympics in 2012.

David Evennett: As agreed when the Olympic loan was signed off, repayments to the National Lottery Distribution Fund will come from land development and sales in the Olympic Park, and are expected to start in the early 2020s.

Department for Work and Pensions

Housing Benefit: Young People

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to publish draft regulations on housing benefit for 18 to 21 year olds.

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effects of plans to restrict housing benefit for 18 to 21 year olds on those people; and which groups of young people will be exempted from those restrictions.

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which categories of young people it is his policy will be exempt from the new restrictions to housing benefit eligibility.

Justin Tomlinson: Removal of automatic housing support for 18 – 21 year olds, announced in the Summer Budget 2015, will be introduced in April 2017. The Department is liaising with a range of key stakeholders as we develop the detail of the policy. Once this work has been completed we will bring forward detailed proposals.

Employment: Disability

Steven Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, by how much the disability employment gap has been reduced since 7 May 2015.

Justin Tomlinson: The UK employment rates for disabled and non-disabled people are monitored quarterly based on the Labour Force Survey conducted by the Office for National Statistics. The latest available figures can be found here:http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/november-2015/table-a08.xlsOnly year on year comparisons can be made because the data are not seasonally adjusted. Therefore, the change in the UK disability employment gap since 7 May 2015 is not yet available.

Innovation Fund

Mr George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much has been allocated to the Work and Health Innovation Fund; and what evaluation measures will be in place to monitor initiatives helping people with health conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis stay in work.

Mr George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of people the Work and Health Innovation Fund will assist; and whether that fund will include initiatives to help people with (a) rheumatoid arthritis and (b) other long-term conditions stay in work.

Priti Patel: This government committed in the Autumn Statement 2015 to spend ‘at least £40 million’ on the. Work and Health Innovation Fund. The fund will support a range of trials to generate evidence of ‘what works’ in supporting disabled people and people with health conditions to get into and stay in work.The type and size of trials are currently being developed.The government committed to publishing a work and health white paper this year, which will share the initial Work and Health Innovation Fund proposals.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support his Department has made available to women born in the 1950s who are affected by recent changes in the age at which they become eligible for the state pension.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Working age benefits are available for those who have not yet reached State Pension age. A concession of £1.1bn was made, and 81% of those affected will see a delay of one year or less; and for the rest, the delay will be no more than 18 months. There are no plans for further transitional arrangements.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January 2016 to Question 23063, on universal credit, when his Department plans to provide that notification to claimants.

Priti Patel: We will notify all claimants who we expect to be directly affected by the change to work allowances at the appropriate time. We will also offer tailored support depending on the claimants individual circumstances.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many cases have come before the Court of Appeal challenging the lawfulness of the under-occupancy penalty on the grounds of the effect of that policy on (a) victims of domestic violence and (b) seriously disabled children who need overnight care.

Justin Tomlinson: (a) One victim of domestic violence has challenged the removal of the spare room subsidy in the Court of Appeal.(b) One challenge in the Court of Appeal from a case with a disabled child who requires overnight care from a non-resident carer.

Universal Credit: Housing

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in what circumstances the housing element of advance payments of universal credit can be paid directly to a landlord.

Priti Patel: Universal Credit is paid as a single monthly amount. The advance payment provision is for the total UC payment, not for any particular portion of it. A payment of Universal Credit in respect of housing costs can be paid directly to the landlord, or in certain circumstances, via an Alternative Payment Arrangement.

Access to Work Programme

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people took part in the Access to Work programme in each year from 2010 to 2013.

Justin Tomlinson: The number of people helped by Access to Work in each year from 2010 to 2013 is published in the Access to Work Official Statistics which can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/access-to-work-statistics-on-recipients--2

Housing Benefit

Neil Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether (a) new or existing Housing Benefit claimants and (b) those in supported accommodation will have their allowance cut to Local Housing Allowance rates from 1 April 2016.

Justin Tomlinson: This measure does not apply until April 2018. We value the work of the supported housing sector extremely highly and are working closely with them to ensure they are supported as effectively as possible in advance of the police taking effect.The Department alongside the Department for Communities and Local Government has jointly commissioned an evidence review of supported housing.The results of this research will determine our future policy development and any appropriate exemptions.

Unemployment: Young People

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that jobcentres help younger jobseekers plan for the future.

Priti Patel: This Government is committed to ensuring all young people are either earning or learning. That is why we have launched Jobcentre Plus support for schools and from April 2017 we will ensure all young people are supported through our new Youth Obligation.

Employment and Support Allowance

Heidi Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of proposed changes to the employment and support allowance work-related activity group on claimants.

Priti Patel: The Government set out its assessment of the impacts of the welfare policies in the Bill on 20th July last year. We are committed to transforming people’s lives by supporting more disabled people into work. We have increased funding for support for those with health conditions and disabilities by almost 15% and are bringing in a new Work and Health Programme.

Occupational Pensions: Small Businesses

William Wragg: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that small and micro-employers are able to comply with automatic enrolment for workplace pensions.

Justin Tomlinson: 5.81 million people have already been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension by 78,789 employers We are focused on making compliance with automatic enrolment duties as straightforward as possible –especially for small and micro employers, to continue to build on this success. As part of this, the Pensions Regulator has launched a new, simplified and much shorter ‘Step by Step’ guide on their website. This interactive Step by Step guide will help employers easily find out what they will need to do to comply by way of an easier to navigate, personalised journey. The number of steps an employer now has to take has reduced from 11 to just 5. This is designed to meet the specific needs of smaller employers who may well not have pensions experience, including those with just one or two staff. In addition, The Regulator provides online content for business advisers who play an important role in supporting smaller employers to meet their legal duties. The Regulator has simplified and tailored all letters and guides to ensure that their guidance is easy for small employers to follow; and is working with the key providers in the automatic enrolment market to ensure that employers are offered a consistent automatic enrolment journey. The Regulator’s website also provides guidance on what to consider when choosing a scheme and includes the list of independently audited, high quality ‘master trusts’ pension schemes. This will make scheme choice (one of the biggest challenges for small employers) easier.

Ministry of Defence

Trident: Employment

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the most recent estimate is that his Department has made of (a) civilian public sector, (b) civilian private sector and (c) military personnel working (i) directly on and (ii) in the supply chain of the Trident nuclear weapon system.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the most recent estimate is that his Department has made of (a) civilian public sector, (b) civilian private sector and (c) military personnel working (i) directly on and (ii) in the supply chain of the Successor submarine programme.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the number of jobs in each region and part of the UK that (a) have been and (b) will be created by the Successor submarine programme.

Mr Philip Dunne: The nuclear deterrent is the cornerstone of the UK’s defence security policy. Maintaining the UK’s defence nuclear enterprise supports over 30,000 jobs across the UK and makes a significant contribution to the economy. In the UK, four key suppliers directly support the delivery of the Trident programme. The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) managed and operated by AWE Management Limited is based in Aldermaston and Burghfield; BAE Systems Maritime-Submarines at Barrow-in-Furness; Babcock at Devonport; and Rolls-Royce at Raynesway, Derby. There are thousands of jobs sustained across these sites. There are also 6,800 Ministry of Defence (MOD) civilian and Royal Navy jobs at Her Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde including contractors from Babcock, Lockheed Martin UK and Rolls-Royce. This figure is due to grow to 8,200 in the 2020s. Rolls-Royce also operate the site at the Vulcan Naval Reactor Test Establishment, Dounreay, supporting the Trident programme and other nuclear-powered submarines. Also the Defence Equipment and Support’s military and defence civilian personnel are based at MOD Abbey Wood and other sites in the UK. The ability of these key areas to deliver their programmes depends heavily on an extensive network of sub-contractors who are working indirectly in support of the Trident programme.

Clyde Naval Base: Police

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many civilian police are involved in guarding HM Naval Base Clyde.

Mark Lancaster: I am withholding the number of Ministry of Defence Police officers deployed at HM Naval Base Clyde for the purpose of safeguarding national security.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times personnel from UK Reaper Squadrons 39 and 13 have used the red card system in 2015 in joint operations.

Penny Mordaunt: I am withholding the information as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

Trident Submarines: Job Creation

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of jobs which  will be created at Barrow shipyards by the Successor submarine project; and what estimate it has made of the anticipated duration of employment of those jobs.

Mr Philip Dunne: We expect the Successor submarine programme will sustain thousands of jobs at Barrow into the 2030s. These jobs will ensure that the UK retains and develops its world leading skills at Barrow and a wide range of companies across the nation, making a significant contribution to the UK economy.

Gulf War Syndrome: Research

David Mackintosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2016 to Question 22430, what plans his Department has to communicate those developments in domestic and international research referred to UK Gulf War veterans.

David Mackintosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2016 to Question 22430, if his Department will consider new collaborative funding proposals for further research into rehabilitative therapies for veterans with Gulf War illnesses.

David Mackintosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2016 to Question 22430, what plans his Department has to issue guidance on treatment best practice to (a) healthcare professionals and (b) partners in the military charity sector.

Mark Lancaster: As stated in my answer to Question 22430, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has funded extensive research into Gulf War Illness, including some research into rehabilitative therapies for those veterans with persistent symptoms. There are no plans to fund any further research. The MOD has no plans to issue guidance on treatment best practice to healthcare professionals or partners in the military charity sector in respect of veterans of the 1990-91 Gulf Conflict. Neither do we have any plans in January 2016 to communicate the findings of independent research on the 1990-91 Gulf Conflict, published in the UK or overseas, to UK veterans. There is a wide range of support already available to veterans of the 1990-91 Gulf conflict. This can be accessed through MOD’s Veterans UK website and free help line.

Ministry of Defence: Pay

Neil Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many employees working on the Trident submarine are paid (a) the National Minimum Wage, (b) above £26,500 and (c) above £40,000.

Mr Philip Dunne: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Death

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of accidental fatalities in the armed forces which occur during training exercises.

Penny Mordaunt: Deaths in training are rare. We do, however, take our duty of care to our personnel very seriously. Risk is inherent in many activities carried out by the Armed Forces, from adventurous training to training exercises and operations. This is especially true where activities involve weapon systems, vehicles or strenuous physical activity. This risk is rendered as low as reasonably practicable during training by ensuring that its design and delivery are subject to strict safety procedures and rigorous risk analysis. This allows the Services to provide realistic and effective training which balances the risks with the need to provide a safe training environment. We have a range of mechanisms to ensure supervision and welfare support for trainees of all ages, such as the tiered Duty Holder construct which make specific individuals personally accountable and responsible for potential Risk to Life decisions. Training regimes are also subject to internal or external assurance and audit inspections including by OFSTED. In the event of a training fatality, or indeed any other fatality, a thorough investigation would be convened. This can include a Service Inquiry, internal investigation, police investigations or investigations by, for example, the Health and Safety Executive. Fatalities will normally be the subject of a Coroner’s Inquest. A Service Inquiry may take place if it is considered that anything further of consequence to any of the regular or reserve forces may be learned. This is an independent investigation designed to establish the circumstances surrounding an accident and make recommendations in order to prevent reoccurrence and enhance safety. On 1 April 2015 we established the Defence Safety Authority (DSA). This brings together the Defence safety regulators across all environments (including maritime, air, land, nuclear, ordnance and fire) and accident investigators into a single independent organisation led by a 3 star officer. The DSA is responsible for the regulation of Defence Health, Safety and Environmental Protection. Its purpose is to provide independent assurance to the Defence Secretary that his policy on safety in Defence is being promoted and implemented in the conduct of Defence activities. The Director General of the Defence Safety Authority is now the primary Convening Authority for all Service Inquiries pertaining to safety-related fatalities and major equipment loss across the whole of Defence.

Armed Forces: Carbon Emissions

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what measurements he has made of the UK armed forces' carbon emissions for (a) 2015 and (b) any previous years for which data is held; and what plans the Government has to reduce UK military carbon emissions in response to the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

Mark Lancaster: Information on the UK Armed Forces' carbon emissions from 2009-10 to 2014-15 can be found in pages 11 and 12 of the Sustainable Ministry of Defence (MOD) Annual Report, using the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/447951/20150723-Sustainable_MOD_Annual_Report-internet-ver.pdfThe MOD continues to reduce carbon emissions as part of the Government's Greening Government commitments and the new targets are being developed for 2016-2020.

Military Alliances: Eastern Europe

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assistance the UK has given to the Ministries of Defence and armed forces of Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine to help set up a joint multinational brigade.

Mr Julian Brazier: The UK has developed strong relationships with the Armed Forces of Poland Lithuania and Ukraine: we are partners in the Northern Group with Poland; Lithuania is a member of the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force; and to-date our UK Armed Forces have delivered 35 courses to train nearly 1,700 members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces at nine locations in Ukraine and we remain on course to have trained 2,000 troops by April 2016. We have not provided any assistance to the recently announced joint Polish, Lithuanian, and Ukrainian multinational brigade.

Navy: Patrol Craft

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 6.55 of the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence Review 2015, what assessment he has made of the Royal Navy's operational need for an additional two offshore patrol vessels; what estimate he has made of the total cost of each such vessel; and what estimate he has made of the size of crew required by each such vessel.

Mr Philip Dunne: As outlined in the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence Review 2015 (Cmd 9161), we will buy new River Class Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) to deliver a more modern and capable fleet. These ships will support our destroyers and frigates in delivering routine tasks and to enhance our contribution to maritime security and fisheries protection, working with the Border Force, Marine Management Organisation and other law enforcement organisations.We have begun the detailed work to take forward the plans to buy the new OPVs. The cost of each vessel and the size of the ships' companies have yet to be determined.

European Fighter Aircraft: Warnings

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 27 January 2015 to Question 221410, when he expects the concept phase of the development of a collision warning system for the Typhoon aircraft to be complete; and when he expects an investment decision to be made.

Mr Philip Dunne: We remain committed to reducing the risk of aircraft-to-aircraft collision through exploiting technology and reviewing operating procedures on Typhoon aircraft.Two possible equipment solutions have been demonstrated and will be part of formal assessment in the coming months.

HMS Ocean: Decommissioning

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his current estimate is of the cost of decommissioning HMS Ocean.

Mr Philip Dunne: The cost of decommissioning HMS OCEAN is yet to be determined.

Defence Equipment: Sales

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much income his Department has received from the sale of surplus equipment in each of the last six years.

Mr Philip Dunne: Ministry of Defence equipment disposal receipts for the last six full financial years are provided in the table below:  Financial YearNet Receipts £ million2009-1028.62010-1146.22011-12229.52012-1339.82013-1444.92014-1532.0

Military Aircraft: Damage

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) Tornado and (b) Typhoon aircraft have been temporarily taken out of service as a result of weather damage sustained during (i) combat operations and (ii) training exercises in each of the last six years.

Mr Philip Dunne: Data on weather damage to Typhoon and Tornado aircraft is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Trident Submarines

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Strategic Defence and Security Review, which improvements in performance in the delivery of the Successor submarine programme (a) have been achieved and (b) he expects to be achieved in the next 12 months.

Mr Philip Dunne: We are working closely with all of our key suppliers to ensure that they make improvements, where required, to deliver both the capability and the capacity we need to successfully deliver the Successor programme. This work builds on the efficiencies and improvements already made as part of initiatives such as the Submarine Enterprise Performance Programme.Discussions with our key suppliers are ongoing and it would not be appropriate for the Ministry of Defence to discuss this work publicly for commercial reasons.

Trident Submarines

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether there is an approved Outline Business Case for the investment proposals for the next phase of work on the Successor submarine programme.

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether there is an approved Final Business Case for the £600 million of further design work proposed for the Successor submarine programme.

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Strategic Defence and Security Review, what the stages will be in the staged investment programme for the Successor submarine programme; and what the estimated timetable for each of those stages is.

Mr Philip Dunne: In line with normal Ministry of Defence processes, a business case for the additional investment referred to in the Strategic Defence and Security Review is going through the formal approvals process.Options for the subsequent investment stages, including scope, time and cost are currently under consideration.

Trident Submarines

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the estimated completion and entry into service dates are for each of the proposed Successor Trident submarines.

Mr Philip Dunne: As set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, we expect the first Successor submarine to enter service in the early 2030s. As detailed Planning Assumptions for Service Entry are classified, I am witholding that information.

Armed Forces: Malaria

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many armed forces personnel who have taken Mefloquine have been treated for psychiatric problems in the last 12 months.

Mark Lancaster: Between 1 April 2007 and 30 September 2015 a minimum of 17,623 UK Regular Armed Forces personnel were prescribed mefloquine.For the year 1 October 2014 to 30 September 2015 (the latest date for which information is available) a minimum of 354 (2%) with a history of mefloquine prescription subsequently were assessed as having a mental health disorder at their initial assessment at a Ministry of Defence (MOD) Department for Community Mental Healthcare, or admission to the MOD in-patient provider.It must be noted that this numerical association does not prove direct causation. Further, a comparison of personnel prescribed other antimalarial chemoprophylactic agents with those prescribed mefloquine has shown no statistical difference between these groups in terms of the amount of time between antimalarial prescription and the presentation for mental healthcare.This emphasises it is not possible from centrally held data to identify whether a mental health episode is associated with being prescribed mefloquine, nor whether personnel have taken or continued to take mefloquine after they were prescribed it.

RAF Northolt

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has an insurance policy in place for civilian residents on the land around RAF Northolt to cover possible damage to their properties.

Mark Lancaster: The Ministry of Defence does not purchase insurance policies in the UK but accepts its own risks and acts as its own insurer.

Rolls-Royce Marine Power Operations

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions his Department has had with Rolls-Royce on the future direction of its nuclear submarine power plant business; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: Ministry of Defence officials regularly meet with suppliers, including Rolls-Royce. Discussions naturally cover both existing contracts and the future landscape of Rolls-Royce's business interests.

Army: Reserve Forces

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he expects the target strength of army reservists to be met.

Mr Julian Brazier: We expect to reach our target strength of 30,000 Army Reserves by April 2019.The Army Reserve is growing and during the 12 months to 1 December 2015, we enlisted 6,600 new members, a rise of 50% on the equivalent period last year. The Army Reserve's trained strength has exceeded the target for this financial year by over 2,300 reservists.I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 October 2015 to the hon. Member for Strangford (Mr Shannon) to Question 11812 which explained the improvements we have made to ensure we reach our target strength of 35,000 trained volunteer Reservists across all three Services.



Reserve Forces: Recruitment
(Word Document, 14.95 KB)

Home Office

Firearms: Crime

Mr Khalid Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to prevent the supply of guns and ammunition at a neighbourhood level.

Mike Penning: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 13 January 2016.The correct answer should have been:

The Government and police work nationally, and with international partners, to reduce the threat to the UK from the criminal use of firearms. In 2013/14, firearms were used in a small and diminishing proportion of total police recorded crime, 0.2%. The figure for 2009/10 was 0.3%. Following the firearms surrenders in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands in 2013 and 2014, the National Ballistics Intelligence Service (NABIS) co-ordinated firearms surrenders in the majority of the Police Force areas in England and Wales during 2014 and 2015, resulting in the surrender of over 6000 items.As of 7th January 2016; 3,864 firearms and over 13,000 items of ammunition have been recovered following the November 2015 firearms surrender, with 934 weapons being recovered prior to the November surrender. Of those items recovered in the November surrender (discounting ammunition, CS Sprays and Stun Guns), items include:• 516 pistols;• 473 revolvers;• 1,226 shotguns;• 243 rifles;• 873 air weaponsThis brings the total volume of firearms surrendered in the last eighteen months to 4,798. If ammunition, CS Sprays and Stun Guns are included this comes to over 6000.Following publication of the Law Commission’s report on firearms law published on 16 December we will be reviewing options to strengthen the current legislation to ensure it safeguards against abuse by criminals.The Government and police work nationally, and with international partners, to reduce the threat to the UK from the criminal use of firearms. In 2013/14, firearms were used in a small proportion of total police recorded crime, 0.2%. The figure for 2009/10 was 0.3%  Figures from the National Ballistics Intelligence Service (NABIS) show that in 2013 and 2014, there were 757 weapons recovered in firearm surrenders undertaken in the Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Greater Manchester and West Midlands Police Force areas.  Building on the success of these surrenders, NABIS co-ordinated firearms surrenders in the majority of the remaining Police Force areas in England and Wales during 2014 and 2015, resulting in the recovery of 5,468 weapons and over 17,000 items of ammunition. The items recovered included: 588 pistols; 479 revolvers; 1,850 shotguns; 416 rifles; 1,269 air weapons; and,866 other items including gas guns, stun guns, CS sprays, BB guns and blank firers. The total number of weapons recovered from all forces in England and Wales as a result of these surrenders was 6,225.  Following publication of the Law Commission’s report on firearms law published on 16 December 2015 we will be reviewing options to strengthen the current legislation to ensure it safeguards against abuse by criminals.

Mike Penning: The Government and police work nationally, and with international partners, to reduce the threat to the UK from the criminal use of firearms. In 2013/14, firearms were used in a small and diminishing proportion of total police recorded crime, 0.2%. The figure for 2009/10 was 0.3%. Following the firearms surrenders in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands in 2013 and 2014, the National Ballistics Intelligence Service (NABIS) co-ordinated firearms surrenders in the majority of the Police Force areas in England and Wales during 2014 and 2015, resulting in the surrender of over 6000 items.As of 7th January 2016; 3,864 firearms and over 13,000 items of ammunition have been recovered following the November 2015 firearms surrender, with 934 weapons being recovered prior to the November surrender. Of those items recovered in the November surrender (discounting ammunition, CS Sprays and Stun Guns), items include:• 516 pistols;• 473 revolvers;• 1,226 shotguns;• 243 rifles;• 873 air weaponsThis brings the total volume of firearms surrendered in the last eighteen months to 4,798. If ammunition, CS Sprays and Stun Guns are included this comes to over 6000.Following publication of the Law Commission’s report on firearms law published on 16 December we will be reviewing options to strengthen the current legislation to ensure it safeguards against abuse by criminals.The Government and police work nationally, and with international partners, to reduce the threat to the UK from the criminal use of firearms. In 2013/14, firearms were used in a small proportion of total police recorded crime, 0.2%. The figure for 2009/10 was 0.3%  Figures from the National Ballistics Intelligence Service (NABIS) show that in 2013 and 2014, there were 757 weapons recovered in firearm surrenders undertaken in the Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Greater Manchester and West Midlands Police Force areas.  Building on the success of these surrenders, NABIS co-ordinated firearms surrenders in the majority of the remaining Police Force areas in England and Wales during 2014 and 2015, resulting in the recovery of 5,468 weapons and over 17,000 items of ammunition. The items recovered included: 588 pistols; 479 revolvers; 1,850 shotguns; 416 rifles; 1,269 air weapons; and,866 other items including gas guns, stun guns, CS sprays, BB guns and blank firers. The total number of weapons recovered from all forces in England and Wales as a result of these surrenders was 6,225.  Following publication of the Law Commission’s report on firearms law published on 16 December 2015 we will be reviewing options to strengthen the current legislation to ensure it safeguards against abuse by criminals.

Immigration Controls

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times the biometric passport chip reading facilities have been deactivated (a) in the UK, (b) at each port and (c) at each airport in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire: For the period for which figures are available, biometric chip reading facilities were deactivated 7 times in 2013, 3 times in 2014 and 3 times in 2015.These figures should be considered against the background of the overall volume of transactions which are currently running at over 100 million per year.Deactivation of the chip reading function by Border Force staff is routinely monitored. The occasions reported above have been thoroughly investigated and none has given rise to concerns about officer integrity. We are also satisfied that there has been no risk to the border as a result. An investigation is ongoing with the system supplier to ascertain whether a technical issue may have caused these incidents.A further breakdown of locations cannot be given for border and national security reasons.

Vetting: Greater London

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of applications for Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service checks (a) nationally, (b) in London and (c) in Dulwich and West Norwood constituency met each of the service's published service standards for waiting times in each year since 2010.

Karen Bradley: Holding answer received on 22 January 2016



The following tables show (a) the proportion of applications for enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks that met the Published Service Standards for waiting times nationally and (b) for applications received from people residing in London postcodes in each Financial Year from April 2010 to November 2015.Table APeriodTotal Apps Despatched21 Calendar Day Target21 Day Achievement56 Calendar Day Target56 Day AchievementApr-10 to Mar-114,124,60985%65.8%95%86.6%Apr-11 to Mar-123,813,11485%88.4%95%96.7%Apr-12 to Mar-133,801,06485%86.5%95%98.6%Apr-13 to Mar-143,715,22285%84.3%95%97.3%Apr-14 to Mar-153,833,14985%84.3%95%94.8%Apr-15 to Nov-152,704,99385%85.5%95%94.6% Table BPeriodTotal Apps Despatched21 Calendar Day Target21 Day Achievement56 Calendar Day Target56 Day AchievementApr-10 to Mar-11395,16485%28.5%95%55.0%Apr-11 to Mar-12363,88785%76.6%95%88.8%Apr-12 to Mar-13358,90085%78.7%95%97.9%Apr-13 to Mar-14356,88385%78.0%95%95.4%Apr-14 to Mar-15371,60885%79.5%95%87.6%Apr-15 to Nov-15257,41085%81.9%95%85.0%The DBS is working closely with the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to improve its performance. An MPS Gold Group is overseeing the recovery plan and exploring all opportunities to process cases quickly, including the recruitment of additional staff. It is not possible to provide the figure for applications from Dulwich and West Norwood as this information is not collected.

Vetting

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2016 to Question 21044, how many applicants who applied for both a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Adult First Check and a DBS check subsequently failed their DBS check after receiving (a) No Match Found responses and (b) wait for full disclosure responses in their DBS Adult First checks in each year since 2012.

Karen Bradley: Holding answer received on 22 January 2016



The DBS is establishing the complex data required for this answer and this involves interrogating key systems to establish the correct information.I will write to the Honourable Member separately as soon as their work is concluded.

UK Border Force: Finance

Andy Burnham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the budget was for the UK Border Force and its predecessor in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12, (d) 2012-13, (e) 2013-14, (f) 2014-15 and (g) 2015-16; and what the UK Border Force's planned budget is for 2016-17.

Mrs Theresa May: Holding answer received on 22 January 2016



Border Force Resource net budget since 2009/10 (Source: BF Records)Border Force’s planned budget for 2016/17 is still being agreed as part of the Home Office’s internal planning discussions.YearTotal BF (£m)BF Operations & Change (£m)SharedServices (£m)2015/16497438592014/1552346459.22013/14509466432012/136174811362011/12447447n/a2010/11477477n/a2009/10494494n/aNotes 1. In 2012/13, Shared Services Depreciation was delegated to Border Force.2. From 2013/14, Shared Services was delegated to Border Force. This included IT, Property, Shared Business Service and Depreciation.

Visas: Appeals

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many standard visitor visas granted on appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) have been issued by UK Visas and Immigration (a) within one month, (b) between one to three months, (c) between three to six months, (d) between six to 12 months and (e) more than 12 months after that tribunal's judgement in each of the last three years.

James Brokenshire: The time taken between receiving a determination from the First Tier Tribunal relating to a standard visitor visa and subsequent issue of visa can be found in the table below: Time between notification of allowed appeal and issued decisionPeriodUnder 1 month1-3 Months3-6 Months6-12 MonthsOver 12 MonthsYE Sep-1310535--*YE Sep-141106055-YE Sep-15105**- All figures are obtained from local Management Information. Figures rounded to the nearest 5. ‘-‘ represents 0 cases ‘*’ represents less than 3 cases.

Vetting

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 14 January 2016 to Question 21066 on vetting, if she will provide equivalent data for each constituent region of England.

Karen Bradley: The DBS is establishing the complex data required for this answer and this involves interrogating key systems to establish the correct information.I will write to the Honourable Member separately as soon as their work is concluded.

Radicalism: Young People

Mr Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle extremism in British young people.

Karen Bradley: Holding answer received on 27 January 2016



Extremism poses a serious threat to this country including our young people. The Government’s Counter-Extremism Strategy aims to tackle extremism in all its forms and takes action in four areas:• Countering extremist ideology;• Building a partnership with all those opposed to extremism;• Disrupting extremists; and• Building more cohesive communitiesWe have a responsibility to protect our young people from extremist views and build a safe environment priotising the safeguarding of children. That is why our local networks work with schools to help children know how to identify extremist narratives online [P.15 Strategy Q&A pack].We also have a responsibility to protect our young people from extremist views in school. That is why since 1 July 2015 all schools have been required to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism. To widen the protection of school children further we are consulting on a new system for registering and inspecting supplementary schools, to protect children and young people from harm, including exposure to extremist views. We have also launched ‘Educate Against Hate’, a new resource to provide parents and teachers with practical advice on protecting children from extremism and radicalisation.

Home Office: Cybercrime

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many employees in her Department have (a) taken the CESG Certified Cyber-Security Training Course and (b) received other relevant cyber-security training.

Mr John Hayes: Holding answer received on 27 January 2016



A revised set of CESG Certified Cyber-Security Training packages was launched in 2015.We do not collate statistics on its use. The Home Office encourages all its staff to develop their information assurance skills which includes cyber security. This includes the Responsible for Information training package which covers core elements of cyber security.

Racially Aggravated Offences

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of trends in the rate of race-related crimes in England and Wales over the last five years.

Karen Bradley: The Crime Survey for England and Wales estimates that there were 106,000 incidents of race hate crime a year, based on the combined data from the 2012/13 to 2014/15 surveys (the most recently available figures). There has been a clear downward trend in the number of hate crime incidents between the 2007/08 to 2008/09 and 2012/13 to 2014/15 crimes surveys, which have fallen by 28% for all hate crimes over this period. The Home Office also collects information from the police on hate crimes. This shows that were 42,930 race hate crimes recorded by the police in 2014/15, a 15% increase on the previous year. This increase is largely thought to be due to improvements in recording practices by the police over the last year rather than a real increase in race hate crime. However, it is possible in some police forces areas that recording may not be the only reason and there could be an element of real increases in certain areas.The Government is committed to tackling all forms of hate crime, including that perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person. That is why we announced in October last year the intention to bring forward a new cross Government hate crime action plan. This is being developed with the communities most affected by hate crime and will be published later this year.

Migrant Workers

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect Tier 2 migration is having on the (a) pay and (b) terms and conditions of UK employees.

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to ensure that Intra Company Transfer Tier 2 visas cannot be used to replace a UK worker who has been made redundant.

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on what the average salary of a Tier 2 worker on an Intra Company Transfer visa is in the IT industry; and how this compares to the industry average.

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential for Tier 2 Intra Company Transfer visas to be used to replace UK workers with outsourced overseas workers in the IT industry.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 28 January 2016



Tier 2, the skilled worker route, is designed to fill roles which cannot be filled by a suitable resident worker. The immigration rules, and UK employment law, do not allow workers to be made redundant and directly replaced.It is a decision for businesses whether to outsource certain functions. We are, however, mindful of concerns that use of the Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) category for third party contracting may undercut or displace resident workers.That is why, in June last year, we commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to examine the ICT category as part of its wider review on Tier 2. The MAC published its report on 19 January and it can be found on the gov.uk website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/migration-advisory-committee-mac-review-tier-2-migrationChapter 6 of the report sets out the MAC’s findings on the ICT category, including its use for third party contracting, the salaries paid to IT workers and the impacts on the resident labour market. The MAC found that salaries for these transferees were clustered around the 25th percentile of earnings for resident workers in IT occupations (the current minimum permitted under the immigration rules).The Government is currently considering the MAC’s findings carefully and will announce any changes in due course.

Police

Gerald Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to ensure that police forces have sufficient numbers and adequate powers to deal with incidents similar to which took place during New Year celebrations in Cologne.

Mike Penning: Enforcement of the law and decisions on how resources are deployed, are responsibilities of individual Chief Officers and Police and Crime Commissioners, taking into account the specific local issues and demands which they face.Since the disorders seen in summer 2011 and the issue by the Home Secretary in 2012 of the first Strategic Policing Requirement, the police in England and Wales have taken significant steps to strengthen their capability to manage the risk of disorder. These steps include:• ensuring sufficient public order trained officers are available to respond to local and national strategic threat and risk assessments;• enabling the quick and effective deployment of police officers across the country, through the National Police Coordination Centre and the National Mobilisation Plan;• ensuring the effective use of public order powers and tactics;• ensuring the early detection of, and effective mitigation against, any issues through an improved national capability to intelligently monitor open source media.The police have a range of powers they can use across a broad canvas of criminal offences enabling them to proactively prepare for, and provide, a coordinated and proportionate response to disorder incidents, similar to those seen in the New Year celebrations in Cologne.With regards to the sexual violence seen in Cologne, the key message must be that anyone who disrupts the communities and livelihoods of our citizens will face the full force of justice, because it is the victims who matter most. This includes those seeking asylum and we are clear we will remove asylum eligibility from those who commit serious crime. I am also clear that every incident of sexual violence and rape need to be treated seriously, every victim needs to be treated with dignity and every investigation and every prosecution needs to be conducted thoroughly and professionally.

Refugees: France

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Refugees of 6 January 2016, Official Report, column 190WH, which French NGO the Government has supported significantly.

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to implement the joint programme referred to in paragraph 21 of the joint ministerial declaration, Managing Migratory Flows in Calais, of 20 August 2015.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 28 January 2016



The Home Secretary and French Interior Minister agreed in the UK-France Joint Declaration in August 2015 to set up a project aimed at protecting vulnerable people in the Calais migrant camp. The project is being delivered by the French NGO Terre D’Asile.The UK has contributed €750,000 (£530,000) to fund the project which formally launched in December 2015.

Asylum: Housing

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the delivery standards and criteria her Department sets for housing providers in the provision of housing to asylum seekers.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 28 January 2016



In line with government transparency commitments details of the standards required are already in the public domain.The particular document that details the standards is titled ‘COMPASS Project Schedule 2 - Statement of Requirements’ and is available on the Contracts Finder Archive on the Data.Gov.UK Website at https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive/contract/487962/

Clearsprings Group

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers have been accommodated by Clearsprings on behalf of her Department in (a) Cardiff, (b) Wales and (c) the UK in each of the last six years.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 28 January 2016



Clearsprings Ready Homes provide accommodation for asylum seekers under contract with the Home Office in Wales, London and the South East and South West of the UK only.Data provided for September each year in respect of dispersed asylum seekers as follows: LocationSept 2010Sept 2011Sept 2012Sept 2013Sept 2014Sept 2015Cardiff9218567969159091086Wales151314461306164519382384London and the South184515741579168318391843 Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-july-to-september-2015

Refugees

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refugees were referred to her Department by the UN High Commission for Refugees under (a) the Gateway Protection Programme, (b) the Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme and (c) the Mandate Refugee Scheme in each year since 2009-10; and how many such refugees in each year and for each scheme her Department refused after carrying out checks.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 28 January 2016



We do not report on how many people have been identified for resettlement in the UK under these schemes. Not all referrals translate into arrivals for a variety of reasons. In some instances, refugees choose to withdraw, for example, following the death of a family member, marriage or childbirth. Furthermore the Home Office also retains the right to reject individuals on security, war crimes or other grounds. In addition we do not currently differentiate between cases that are refused or withdrawn and therefore do not hold the information on refusals in the format requested.Notwithstanding this, the Home Office is committed to publishing data on arrivals through the resettlement programmes in an orderly way as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. The next set of figures will be in the quarterly release on 25 February 2016 and will cover the period October-December 2015. These numbers will be updated each quarter.

Radicalism: Internet

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many websites encouraging recruitment to Daesh or al Qaeda her Department has helped close down in the last six months.

Mr John Hayes: Extremist and terrorist organisations are exploiting the internet to disseminate propaganda and recruit individuals to their groups or to support their aims. Some vulnerable individuals, including young people are being misled by this damaging propaganda through its use of social media sites.Since 2010, over 130,000 pieces of terrorist-related material have been removed by industry from various online platforms at the request of the dedicated police Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU). Approximately 31,000 removals were made in the last 6 months alone. Removal requests are now at over 1,000 a week and approximately 70% of CTIRU’s caseload is Daesh related.The Counter Extremism Strategy, published in October 2015, sets out further work to uplift efforts to outmatch the scale and pace of terrorist and extremist use of the internet. As part of this we are pressing industry to take a lead in tackling the abuse of their services by terrorist and extremist groups.

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Fire Authority

Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what response she has made to the recent letter from the Chair of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Fire and Rescue Authority detailing improvements in that Authority's pay and recruitment arrangements following Ministerial intervention; and if she will make a statement.

Mike Penning: Melanie Dawes, the Permanent Secretary and Accounting Officer for the Department for Communities and Local Government, replied to Sir Peter Brown the chairman of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Fire Authority, on 30 December. That letter reiterated the Government’s position that all parts of the public sector should continue to demonstrate restraint in the pay and reward offered to senior staff, and should ensure that the way that their workforces are managed is truly in the interests of taxpayers.While fire and rescue authorities are independent employers and it is for their leadership to make local decisions about the pay, reward and appointment of their staff, the Government has taken a number of steps to increase the transparency and accountability of these local decisions, not least through the Localism Act 2011 and its associated guidance.These measures have helped create the conditions in which decisions on senior remuneration are rightfully subject to significantly greater scrutiny, ensuring the public have the information they need to hold councillors to account at the ballot box.

Vetting

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average end-to-end time was for applications to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) processed by the Metropolitan Police Force in each year since 2010; and whether her Department makes financial support available for people who are unable to begin work pending a DBS certificate.

Karen Bradley: I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 14 December 2015, UIN 18936. The DBS regularly publishes performance statistics of police disclosure units against the service level agreements. This can be accessed here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dbs-dataset-5-police-disclosure-unit-performanceIn the circumstance that an applicant is unable to begin work due to the length of time taken by a police disclosure unit to complete their checks, it would be a matter for the police force in question to consider the provision of a financial redress.

Visas: China

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made on the effect of the visa refund fee scheme on the number of Chinese people visiting the UK.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Vetting

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much revenue from (a) CRB checks and (b) Disclosure and Barring Service checks has been raised for the public purse in each of the last 10 years.

Karen Bradley: Holding answer received on 01 February 2016



The Disclosure and Barring Service was established on 1 December 2012 when the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) merged. The table below shows total fee income from disclosures for the period 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2015 collated from the Annual Reports for the period. DBS is self-funding and operates on a full cost recovery basis.Financial YearTotal Fee Income £(000)2005 - 0675,4942006 - 0793,0422007 - 0897,7652008 - 09113,1172009 - 10125,8832010 - 11117,8982011 - 12105,2532012 - 13115,1932013 - 14135,8782014 - 15145,773

Vetting

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) CRB checks and (b) Disclosure and Barring Service checks have been carried out in each of the last 10 years.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

HM Treasury

Financial Services: Crime

Julie Cooper: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people who work in the City of London have been prosecuted for a crime relating to financial misconduct since 2008.

Harriett Baldwin: We are unable to specifically identify whether alleged offenders prosecuted for committing a crime relating to financial misconduct worked in the City of London or any other geographical area. There are many criminal offences that could be construed as ‘relating to financial misconduct’ which are prosecuted by a number of differing authorities and a detailed answer could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Since 2009 the Financial Services Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority have prosecuted 59 individuals for offences including insider dealing, breaching the general prohibition and creating false or misleading impressions or statements, seven of whom were acquitted.

Taxation: Self-assessment

Paul Blomfield: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the (a) cost to and (b) effect on small businesses and self-employed workers of the Government's plans to move from annual to quarterly digital tax reporting by 2020.

Mr David Gauke: The Government committed to transforming the tax system at the March 2015 Budget. The aim is to create a system that is more effective, more efficient and easier for taxpayers based around new digital accounts. Instead of an onerous tax return, once a quarter businesses will update HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) from their digital records and, in most cases, little or no further entry of information will be needed. This does not mean quarterly tax returns. Instead, this is about making life easier for businesses – saving them time and money. These changes are a central part of a package of reforms that will save businesses £400m in administrative burdens. I also refer the honourable Member to my response of 11 January 2016 (with references 20876 and 21032). Many taxpayers have told HMRC that they want more certainty over their tax bill and access to an in-year picture of their tax position. These reforms will make it easier for business to understand how much tax they owe, giving them far more certainty over their tax position, helping them budget, invest and grow. We will consult widely on how the new system should operate, and invite businesses to test the new tools and services, providing feedback ahead of rollout. We are also introducing these reforms gradually – not phasing them in fully until 2020, because we know how important it will be to give taxpayers time to adapt.

Gaming Machines: Tax Yields

Mr Charles Walker: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what revenue has accrued to the Exchequer from the use of fixed odds betting terminals in each of the last four complete financial years; and if he will make a statement.

Damian Hinds: Total Machine Games Duty (MGD) receipts for the years ending 31 March 2015 and 2014 were £562 million and £502 million. Total Amusement Machine Licence Duty receipts for the years ending 31 March 2013 and 2012 were £151million and £219 million. Receipts from fixed odds betting terminals are not separately identified in the figures published in HMRC’s Tax & Duty bulletin. The bulletin can be found here: https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/Pages/TaxAndDutyBulletins.aspx

Motor Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions

Martyn Day: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the reasons are for the different criteria for emissions applying to cars than to motorcycles when road tax values are applied.

Damian Hinds: The Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) system for cars is based on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of the vehicle but CO2 emissions data has only been mandatory for motorcycles since 1 January 2016.

Revenue and Customs: Staff

Rob Marris: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of full-time equivalent staff at HM Revenue and Customs on 31 March (a) 2016 and (b) 2017.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) expects to be operating with around 60,000 full time equivalent (FTE) staff on 31 March 2016. HMRC’s Business Plan for 2016-17 is currently being finalised and will be published by the end of March 2016 on GOV.UK. This will contain estimated FTE figures for 31 March 2017 and future staffing projections.

Welfare State

Caroline Lucas: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what feasibility studies or other assessments of basic income schemes have been carried out by HM Treasury officials since 1990; and if he will place copies of any such studies or assessments in the Library.

Damian Hinds: The government keeps all tax and welfare policies under review. HM Treasury does not at present have any plans to produce or publish any research on or assessment of basic income schemes.

Fuels: Excise Duties

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to extend the rural fuel duty rebate scheme to parts of Northern Ireland where cheaper fuel is readily available from the Irish Republic.

Damian Hinds: The rebate is only available for communities that meet specific quantified criteria of distance from refineries, with above average pump prices and low population densities. No areas in Northern Ireland were found to meet the full selection criteria. There are currently no plans to extend the scheme beyond the qualifying areas.

Pensions: Fees and Charges

Tom Tugendhat: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department has taken to measure the annual cost of commission and other charges levied on individual private pension plans by financial advisers in the last five years.

Tom Tugendhat: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department has taken to ensure transparency of commission and other charges levied by financial advisers during the sale of financial products to individuals.

Tom Tugendhat: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department has taken to ensure transparency of commission and other charges levied by financial advisers on individual pension plans.

Tom Tugendhat: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on the annual cost of commission and other charges levied by financial advisers during the sale of financial products to individuals in the last five years.

Harriett Baldwin: Adviser remuneration is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Through the Retail Distribution Review (RDR), introduced at the end of 2012, the FCA has taken a number of steps to ensure that adviser remuneration on retail investment business is disclosed in advance of any services required. Product providers no longer have any influence over the remuneration received for advising on investments. Where commission remains on investments sold prior to the RDR, this will have been disclosed as required by the rules in force at the time the product was sold.

Members: Correspondence

Tim Loughton: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Members for East Worthing and Shoreham and Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle on the British Mercantile Marine Memorial Collection which was sent on 28 October 2015 and resent on 5 January 2016.

Greg Hands: I replied to the Hon. Member on 19 November 2015. A copy of my reply has been resent.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Natural Gas

Michelle Donelan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of available gas reserves that need to be left in the ground to ensure that global warming is kept to within two degrees.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department has not made its own estimates of the proportion of fossil fuel reserves that are unburnable under a scenario that limits warming to 2°C. However, others have made estimates such as the International Energy Agency who have suggested that around a third of current proven global fossil fuel reserves could be burned under a 2°C scenario before 2050. Different fossil fuels emit varying amounts of CO2 per unit of energy released on combustion, so calculating the proportion of proven global gas reserves within this global fossil fuel mix depends on the quantities of other fossil fuels combusted. This Government remains committed to the Climate Change Act and to meeting our climate change target of an 80% emissions reduction by 2050 on 1990 levels. This will mean reducing the amount of fossil fuels we use – through improved energy efficiency and increased supplies of low carbon energy - as well as reducing other sources of emissions. As part of our efforts to reduce emissions I have already announced that the Government will consult on proposals to end coal power generation by 2025 and restrict its use from 2023.

Green Deal Scheme

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she has taken to protect recipients of Green Deal funding from companies whose work is not of an acceptable standard.

Andrea Leadsom: All authorised Green Deal participants must adhere to the Green Deal Code of Practice which clearly stipulates their roles and responsibilities in relation to carrying out energy efficiency measures and dealing with consumers. A Green Deal provider offering Green Deal finance must also hold the appropriate FCA permissions to do so and comply with the relevant elements of that regime. Any measures installed under a Green Deal, the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund, or Green Deal Communities must be installed to the standards required in the Publicly Available Standard 2030 (PAS 2030). Green Deal Certification Bodies exist to certify and audit Green Deal Installers against PAS 2030 and the Green Deal Code of Practice. Consumers with Green Deal finance plans who have a complaint can contact the Green Deal Ombudsman if their Green Deal provider is unable or unwilling to help when something goes wrong with a Green Deal Plan. My rt. hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for DECC and DCLG, have also commissioned Dr Peter Bonfield to chair an Independent Review of Consumer Advice, Protection, Standards and Enforcement for UK home energy efficiency and renewable energy measures. The Bonfield review will be submitting its recommendation in April 2016.

Energy

Mike Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the potential contribution to energy efficiency and low carbon energy from buildings markets to (a) improving infrastructure and (b) implementing the Government's (i) long-term economic plan, (ii) obligations under the Climate Change Act 2008 and (c) commitments to relieve fuel poverty.

Andrea Leadsom: There is huge potential for buildings to contribute to our goals on reducing carbon, tackling fuel poverty, keeping bills down and driving economic growth. The UK’s housing stock accounts for around 30% of our energy consumption and a further 20% from non-domestic buildings. Collectively, once electricity emissions are taken into account, buildings make up around one third of our greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing building emissions is therefore key to meeting our Climate Change Act commitment of an 80% green-house gas emissions reduction by 2050. Government is acting to harness this potential. A reformed domestic supplier obligation from April 2017, which will run for 5 years, will upgrade the energy efficiency of over 200,000 homes per year tackling the root cause of fuel poverty. Our extension of the Warm Home Discount to 2020/21 at current levels of £320m per annum will also help vulnerable households with their energy bills. Alongside this, we have set new minimum standards in law which will, from April 2018, require privately rented buildings to reach a standard of at least energy efficiency band E before they can be let. In 2014 a total of 96,510 businesses were active in the Low Carbon and Renewable Energy sector, employing 232,500 full-time equivalent (FTEs) employees generating £45.3 billion of turnover. Over half of these businesses work in the production and supply of energy efficiency products.

Energy

Mike Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will issue a call for evidence from industry and other stakeholders seeking suggestions on Government interventions and policies to further develop the energy efficiency and low carbon energy markets; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government is in regular contact with industry and other stakeholders on energy efficiency and low carbon policies. At the Summer Budget in 2015 the Government announced that it would review the business energy efficiency tax landscape and consider approaches both to simplify the current framework and improve its effectiveness in driving energy efficiency and decarbonisation. The Government launched a consultation in September to seek evidence and set out policy proposals. This consultation closed in November 2015 and a full analysis of the responses is now underway. A formal response will be published in due course.

Hydroelectric Power: Feed-in Tariffs

Richard  Arkless: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment has been made of the effects of the reduction in the feed-in tariff on 14 January 2016 on small scale hydro producers.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government published an impact assessment alongside the Government Response to the FIT Review consultation on 17 December, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/486084/IA_-_FITs_consultation_response_with_Annexes_-_FINAL_SIGNED.pdf This impact assessment set out the impact of deployment caps and tariff changes to different technologies. For the hydro sector, new tariffs are designed to provide a target rate of return of 9.2% for efficient and well-sited installations and could support around 880 installations between 2016-19.

Nuclear Power Stations: Construction

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent discussions she has had with energy companies on the progress of building new nuclear power stations.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Cabinet Office

Foreign Companies: Property

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Government plans to launch its planned consultation on increasing the transparency of property ownership by foreign companies.

Matthew Hancock: Holding answer received on 19 January 2016



In due course.

Government: Debt Collection

Louise Haigh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the decision to transfer a stake in the Debt Market Integrator to a private sector partner was announced.

Matthew Hancock: TDX Group were named as the private sector partner in December 2014. The contract was awarded in March 2015.

Government Departments: Cost Effectiveness

Louise Haigh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the findings were of the Commercial Capability Review conducted by Bain & Company for the Efficiency and Reform Group.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many consultants from Bain & Company were working on his Department's Commercial Capability Review; for how long those consultants were so engaged; and what remit those consultants have been given.

Matthew Hancock: The Cabinet Office used 4 FTE over a nine month period in 2014 and 2015, to cover 10 Commercial Capability Reviews. Bain & Company supported the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury with providing assurance that departments were on track with clear plans to ensure they have the right commercial capability, both in the short-term and for their future functions.The findings of the review, along with updates on progress since the Reviews were conducted, can be found within the Cabinet Office's December 2015 submission to the Public Accounts Committee: http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/public-accounts-committee/followup-on-transforming-contract-management/written/27765.pdf

Cabinet Office: Cost Effectiveness

Louise Haigh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent estimate he has made of savings to his Department as a result of (a) ISSC1 and (b) ISSC2 in each year since 2013.

Matthew Hancock: Cabinet Office does not hold current financial information for Independent Shared Service Centre 1 (ISSC1). As the sole customer receiving services as part of ISSC1, responsibility for the majority of the programme and contract management is now undertaken by DfT.ISSC2's Founding customers achieved net savings of £0.9 million in financial year 2013-14 and £8.19 million net savings in financial year 2014-15. There was a 17% reduction in costs of service in 2014-15 compared with the 2012-13 baseline.The Cabinet Office achieved £0.12 million net savings in 2013-14 and £0.31 million net savings in financial year 2014-15 as a result of receiving services through ISSC2. The figure for 2014-15 represents a 17% reduction in costs compared with the 2012-13 baseline.

Public Sector: Procurement

Richard Burden: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to issue a revised Procurement Policy Note to public authorities on the relationship of their procurement policies to UK foreign policy.

Matthew Hancock: Cabinet Office issues any revision to guidance from time to time.

Shared Services Connected: Pricewaterhouse Coopers

Louise Haigh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many consultants employed by Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP provided consultancy support for independent shared service centres; for how long those consultants were so engaged; what remit those consultants were given; and what the findings of those consultants' work were.

Matthew Hancock: No consultants from Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP (PwC) have been employed during this parliament by the Cabinet Office to support independent shared services centres.Cabinet Office employed a small team of consultants from PwC to provide commercial support to the ISSC2 programme during financial years 2013-14 and 2014-15. On average numbers ranged between 2 and 7 consultants.

Migration: EU Countries

Jim Shannon: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his most recent estimate is of the number of migrants entering the EU; and what the proportion is of those migrants who are entering the UK.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his most recent estimate is of the number of EU migrants entering the UK.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Letter to Member - Migrants entering UK
(PDF Document, 113.84 KB)

Public Appointments: Females

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment the Government has made of the gender balance of public appointments to (a) executive non-departmental public bodies, (b) advisory non-departmental public bodies, (c) independent monitoring boards and (d) non-ministerial departments made since May 2015.

Matthew Hancock: The Government is committed to increasing the diversity of public appointments and​ has an​ aspiration that 50% of new public appointees should be women. We are making good ​progress; the most recent figures published for 2014-2015 show 44% of new appointments were made to women and a higher proportion of all public appointments (new appointments and reappointments) were made to women last year than at any other point in the last decade. I will continue to urge more women to apply for these important posts.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Hill Farming: Flood Control

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to incentivise the use of hedges, field margins and ditches in farmed uplands in order to facilitate flood water retention.

George Eustice: The management of hedges, field margins and ditches is already incentivised in England (including the farmed uplands) by payments under agri-environment schemes, such as Environmental Stewardship. The new Countryside Stewardship scheme, launched last year, is targeted to include those areas that can provide joint benefits for biodiversity, water quality and natural flood management. The retention of hedgerows and field margins is also incentivised through Pillar 1 of the Common Agricultural Policy where they will be eligible as Environmental Focus Areas within the Greening requirements.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Dr Paul Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department has spent on badger culling to date; and what estimate she has made of spending on badger culling in the financial years (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17, (c) 2017-18, (d) 2018-19 and (e) 2019-20.

George Eustice: Bovine TB is the greatest animal health threat to the UK. Based on current expenditure it will cost the taxpayer £1 billion over the next decade if we do not take rigorous action now. The Government is delivering a comprehensive strategy to eradicate the disease and protect the future of our dairy and beef industries. This includes strengthening cattle testing and movement controls, improving biosecurity, and badger control in areas where TB is rife. To date, Defra has spent the following on badger control for the purposes of eradicating bovine TB: 2012/2013 – £2.5m2013/2014 – £6.3m plus an additional £3.5m on policing costs2014/2015 – £3.1m plus an additional £1.4m on policing costs Costs for 2015/2016 are currently being finalised and will be published in due course. Planning is underway for future years, but we expect the costs to government per area to decrease in line with the estimates contained in Table 4 of the Badger Control Policy: Value For Money Analysis published in December 2015:www.gov.uk/government/publications/bovine-tb-badger-control-policy-value-for-money-analysis.

Meat Products: New Zealand

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate she has made of the number of part-carcasses that are imported from New Zealand.

George Eustice: The attached table provides imports of meat from New Zealand for January to November 2015, according to HMRC trade statistics, broken down by 8 digit commodity code. This represents the most detailed level of data available.



PQ 24132 Table
(Word Document, 37 KB)

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: UK Membership of EU

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many copies of the Agra-Europe report on Brexit her Department has.

George Eustice: My Department is aware of Agra Europe’s recent report but has not purchased any copies.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Michael Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if the Rural Payments Agency will inform all farmers who are expecting payments of the specific timings that those payments will be expected.

George Eustice: The Rural Payments Agency has already written to farmers whose claims are deemed more complex and who are unlikely to be paid by the end of January, giving an indication of the earliest point at which they will receive payments. As of 25 January the agency has paid around 61,100 farmers and is working on paying the remaining claims as soon as possible.

Non-native Species

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of grant allocations to local authorities in England in tackling (a) Japanese knotweed and (b) other invasive non-native species since 2011.

George Eustice: Defra does not provide funding to local authorities specifically to tackle Japanese knotweed or other invasive non-native species. However, between April 2011 and March 2015, 29 Local Action Groups across England received £1.5 million in grant funding from Defra to tackle invasive non-native species in and around watercourses to reduce impacts on local communities, protect native biodiversity and reduce the cost to our economy. Many of these worked collaboratively with local authorities. A report published in 2015 summarises the achievements of the funding, highlights successes and blockages to progress and makes recommendations as to what is required to achieve long term sustainability of these groups.https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/nonnativespecies/downloadDocument.cfm?id=1417%20 The report notes that Local Action Groups have successfully raised the awareness of the threat of invasive non-native species amongst local authorities and other agencies, such that this issue is now seen as a higher priority for these bodies.

Department of Health

Human Papillomavirus: Vaccination

Maria Caulfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department plans to take to monitor and evaluate the effect of the men who have sex with men human papilloma virus vaccination programme.

Jane Ellison: In November 2015, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advised that a targeted human papilloma virus vaccination programme for men who have sex with men attending genito-urinary medicine and HIV clinics should be undertaken, subject to procurement of the vaccine and delivery of the programme at a cost-effective price. The Department and Public Health England are considering the JCVI’s advice, including how such a programme could be monitored and evaluated.

Human Papillomavirus: Vaccination

Maria Caulfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when human papilloma virus vaccinations will be available to men who have sex with men through genito-urinary medicine clinics; and what steps his Department is taking to promote that availability.

Maria Caulfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what equality impact assessment he has made of the effect of extending entitlement to the human papilloma virus vaccination only to designated categories of people and not to others.

Jane Ellison: In November 2015, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the expert body that advises the Government on all immunisation matters, advised that a targeted human papillomavirus vaccination programme should be undertaken for men who have sex with men up to 45 years of age who attend genitourinary medicine and HIV clinics. They noted that this should be subject to procurement of the vaccine and delivery of the programme at a cost-effective price. The Department is considering the JCVI’s advice and is undertaking a full equality analysis. The Department will confirm its plans in due course.

Human Papillomavirus: Vaccination

Maria Caulfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department plans to extend the age group entitled to receive the human papilloma virus vaccinations for women.

Jane Ellison: The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme for girls was introduced in 2008, on the recommendation of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the expert body that advises the Government on all immunisation matters. The aim of the programme is to prevent cervical cancer related to HPV infection. When the routine programme was introduced in 2008, a catch-up programme was also rolled out to offer the vaccine to women up to age 18 years. This was also based on advice from the JCVI that the catch-up, as well as the routine programme, would be cost-effective. The JCVI also noted that 'catch up' vaccination for women aged 18 to 25 years was not cost-effective at the vaccine price considered and, on this basis, did not advise the routine vaccination of women beyond the age 18. In 2015, the JCVI revisited the issue and noted that the cost-effectiveness of a catch-up programme for women above 18 years who had not received the vaccine was considered unlikely to be cost-effective. On this basis, we do not have any plans to offer HPV vaccine routinely to women aged 18 and over at this time. Clinicians are however able to offer vaccinations outside of the national programme to women at high risk using individual clinical judgement.

Human Papillomavirus: Vaccination

Maria Caulfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department plans to carry out an equality impact assessment of the tender decision on the universal girls vaccination programme for the human papilloma virus; and what the implications are for that programme of a decision to award it to one using the bivalent vaccine.

Jane Ellison: The Department has no plans to conduct an equality impact assessment on the tender decision following the on-going re-procurement of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine for the adolescent girls programme. The current programme, recommended by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, the expert body that advises the government on all immunisation matters, protects girls against HPV strains 16 and 18 which are responsible for about 70% of cervical cancers. The Department and Public Health England are currently undertaking a procurement exercise to secure vaccine to support the girls programme and as this is a competitive tender, it would not be appropriate to pre-judge the outcome of that exercise. The procurement will take account of the costs and benefits of all vaccines offered to establish which provides best value for money for the National Health Service.

Older People: Mental Health

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what resources his Department has allocated to tackle loneliness amongst older people in the last 12 months.

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the paper, entitled Myeloid differentiation architecture of leukocyte transcriptome dynamics in perceived social isolation, which links loneliness to a decline in health, published by the US National Academy of Sciences on 23 November 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: The Department recognises that loneliness can have a negative impact on a person’s general health. It will continue to take account of the latest research in developing its policies to support local authorities and communities to address loneliness. A recent study by researchers at the University of California and the University of Chicago, published in the journal PNAS in November 2015, adds to the evidence base in this field. Loneliness is a complex problem and affects people in many different ways. Given the complexity of loneliness and the different ways that people are affected, there is no single solution. Many of the solutions to combatting loneliness lie within local communities and involve local authorities, community organisations, the voluntary sector and individuals, working together. Local authorities prioritise how they spend their funding for social care. In 2014-15 authorities spent around £80 million in tackling social isolation in England[1]. Government has a part to play. It has prioritised prevention through the Care Act 2014.The Department has funded the Social Care Institute for Excellence to develop and run the Prevention Library which includes examples of emerging practice to prevent, reduce or delay people’s care and support needs from deteriorating. This includes examples of innovative projects to tackle loneliness. The Department has also supported a ‘digital toolkit’ for local commissioners, which was developed by the Campaign to End Loneliness and is incorporated in its guidance for commissioners. The guidance can be found at: http://campaigntoendloneliness.org/toolkit/   [1] Personal Social Services: Expenditure and Unit Costs England 2014-15, Final release. Published November 2015. http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB19165/pss-exp-eng-14-15-fin-rep.pdf. The Health and Social Care Information Centre.

National Clinical Directors

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many National Clinical Directors will be appointed; and what areas those National Clinical Directors will cover after April 2016.

George Freeman: NHS England will be supported by 17 National Clinical Directors (NCDs) from 1 April 2016. 14 of these roles have been advertised and will be newly appointed. Three NCDs will continue in post into 2016/17; these are NCDs for Maternity and Women’s Health, Learning Disabilities and Innovation. The 17 roles are: National Clinical Director (Major Programmes):— Cancer— Mental Health— Diabetes and Obesity— Learning Disabilities— Urgent and Emergency Care— Maternity and Women’s Health— Innovation National Clinical Director (Service Improvement):― Cardiac Services― Stroke― Respiratory― End of Life Care― Diagnostics, including Imaging and Endoscopy― Musculoskeletal― Dementia― Emergency Preparedness and Critical Care National Clinical Director (Population Groups):— Children, Young People and Transition to Adulthood— Older People and Integrated Person-Centred Care

All Party Smoking and Health Parlt Group

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answers of 10 December 2015 to Questions 18458 and 18543, what assessment he has made of the compatibility with the conditions applicable to grants awarded to Action on Smoking and Health of its the provision of secretariat assistance to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health; if he will review the conditions set out in the award letters for such grants; and if he will investigate any breaches in such conditions.

Jane Ellison: The conditions applicable to grants awarded to Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) are set out in the grant award letters. The Department has made clear that none of this funding is to be used for lobbying purposes. The Section 64 grant must be spent in delivering the agreed project outputs set out in the grant award letter and it does not fund secretariat support for the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health. ASH’s compliance with the conditions of the grant is assessed at the grant monitoring meetings held between the Deputy Director of tobacco control and representatives from ASH as well as in the final full year grant monitoring and governance reports.

Doctors: West Midlands

Mike Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many doctors were working in hospitals in the West Midlands in (a) the first quarter of 2010 and (b) the latest period for which figures are available.

Ben Gummer: Data is not available in the format requested. The number of full time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in the Health Education West Midlands area in the first quarter of 2010 and the latest period for which figures are available is shown in the table below: Number of FTE doctorsFirst quarter of 2010October 2015 April 2010May 2010June 2010 All Hospital and Community Health Service (HCHS) doctors (Including locums)9,6809,6609,61510,746 All HCHS doctors (non locum)9,3839,3659,32810,518Consultants (including Directors of public health)3,5293,5393,5464,251Registrars3,2403,2153,1773,614Other doctors in training1,3661,3601,3571,449Hospital practitioners and clinical assistants77787430Other medical and dental staff1,1701,1731,1741,176 All HCHS doctors (locum)297296287228Consultants (including Directors of public health) (locums)209202200194Registrars (locums)35373714Other doctors in training (locums)1920202Hospital practitioners and clinical assistants (locums)5550Other medical and dental staff (locums)30322517Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre, Provisional National Health Service HCHS monthly workforce statistics Notes:' 0 ' denotes more than zero, less than oneIt should be noted that the structural change in the NHS that took effect as at the 1st April 2013 impacts on how organisations in existence prior to April 2013 can be allocated to the new Health Education England (HEE) regions. The main impact is in those areas where regional organisations have altered their boundaries, for example London Ambulance Service serves all three London HEE regions but is allocated wholly to the Health Education North West London region. These statistics include every hospital and community health services doctor working in the West Midlands HEE area in any trust type.Statistics also relate to the contracted positions within English NHS organisations and may include those where the person assigned to the position is temporarily absent, for example on maternity leave.These figures may include a small number of doctors who are working in a non-hospital location for example an ambulance trust.Provisional monthly NHS workforce data figures may be revised from month to month as issues are uncovered and resolved. The monthly workforce data does not include Primary care staff or Bank staff.

Social Services: Veterans

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to amend current charging rules for veterans injured in service before 5 April 2015 on compensation awarded under the War Pensions Scheme being taken into account in assessing the cost of their social care support.

Alistair Burt: Armed forces veterans injured in service receive payments either through the War Disablement Pension (WDP) or the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS). The AFCS applies to veterans injured from 6 April 2005. These payments are divided into a personal injury compensation element and other payments. Traditionally, only the personal injury compensation payment has been fully disregarded. Since October 2012 Guaranteed Income Payments made to veterans under the AFCS have been disregarded. The Department has been in discussion with the Royal British Legion about how WDP payments are treated. Currently the first £10 per week of WDP payments is disregarded. The Government is considering how WDP payments to veterans should be treated in the financial assessment for social care charging in future.

Social Services: Living Wage

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2016 to Question 23722, what estimate his Department has made of the additional cost to social care providers of paying the new national living wage.

Alistair Burt: Our analysis of the cost of the national living wage was based on projections and data on pay including the national living wage from the Office of Budget Responsibility and Skills for Care. This analysis informed the decision to provide a settlement which means local government has access to the funding it needs to increase adult social care spending in real terms by the end of the Parliament.

Agency Nurses

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the financial monitoring and accounts returns submitted to his Department, what the planned agency costs are forecast to be as a proportion of the total nursing costs in each NHS (a) trust and (b) foundation trust in 2015-16.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the financial monitoring and accounts returns submitted to his Department, which NHS (a) trusts and (b) foundation trusts have reported that their planned agency nursing spend (i) will and (ii) will not exceed the ceiling trajectory set by Monitor.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the financial monitoring and accounts returns submitted to his Department, what the (a) year to date and (b) forecast outturn spend is in each NHS (i) trust and (ii) foundation trust on total agency nursing costs, excluding outsourced bank, in 2015-16.

Alistair Burt: Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority have confirmed that they plan to publish data on the implementation of the agency caps in coming months.

Blood: Contamination

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what forecast his Department has made of the budget of his Department's consultation, entitled Infected blood: reform of financial and other support; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: As announced on 21 January 2016, the Department has identified £100 million from its budget for the Spending Review period for the proposals set out in the consultation. This is in addition to the current spend and the £25 million already announced in March 2015.

Arthritis

Mr George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to support earlier diagnosis and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis to allow people with that condition to stay in work for longer.

Jane Ellison: In February 2015, Public Health England, in partnership with the Department, ran a local pilot campaign to raise public awareness of the signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) symptoms in Nottingham City and Hardwick Clinical Commissioning Group. The aim of the campaign was to support earlier diagnosis and thereby enable treatment to begin earlier to improve the quality of life for people with the condition. The results of the campaign are currently being evaluated. To help clinicians to identify the symptoms of RA and make prompt referral to specialists the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published Rheumatoid arthritis: The management of rheumatoid arthritis in adults in 2009. The guideline emphasises the need for early diagnosis, with urgent referral to a specialist rheumatologist on suspicion of RA. The guidance is available at: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg79 In addition, NICE has also published a Quality Standard on RA in June 2013. Quality standards are concise sets of prioritised statements designed to drive measurable quality improvements within a particular area of health or care. The standard makes seven statements which are indicators of good care, including one on that sets out that people with suspected RA are referred to a rheumatology service within three working days of presentation. It also includes a statement on assessment which recommends that people with suspected RA are assessed in a rheumatology service within three weeks of referral.

Blood: Contamination

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients have been infected with HIV and hepatitis C through treatment with NHS-supplied blood or blood products; how much his Department has paid to patients so infected with those diseases to date; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: Published data estimates that around 4,700 people with bleeding disorders (such as haemophilia) and around 28,000 other people were exposed to hepatitis C in the United Kingdom. This information is from the UK Haemophilia Doctors’ Organisation 2011 annual report. Around 1,200 people with bleeding disorders and 100 other individuals were infected with HIV through treatment with National Health Service-supplied blood products or blood transfusions in the UK. Many of those infected with HIV were also infected with hepatitis C. To date over £390 million has been paid out in the UK through the schemes, since they were set up in 1988.

Pancreatic Cancer

Dr Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve pancreatic cancer survival rates.

Jane Ellison: Services for pancreatic cancer have been significantly strengthened within the National Health Service in recent years. This includes clearer diagnostic pathways; decision making by specialist multi-disciplinary teams; and centralisation of pancreas surgery within specialist teams. However, we know more needs to be done. The Independent Cancer Taskforce’s report, Achieving World-Class Outcomes a Cancer Strategy for England 2015 – 2020, notes that whilst survival to date has improved significantly for some cancers, it has remained stubbornly low for other cancers, including pancreatic cancer. The strategy makes recommendations for speeding up diagnosis of cancers with non-specific but concerning symptoms through the use of a multidisciplinary diagnostic centre. In terms of delivery, NHS England has appointed Cally Palmer as National Cancer Director. She will lead on implementation; as well as new cancer vanguards to redesign care and patient experience. She has set up a new Cancer Transformation Board to implement the strategy, and this met for the first time on Monday 25 January. There will also be a Cancer Advisory group, chaired by Sir Harpal Kumar, to oversee and scrutinise the work of the Transformation Board.  In addition, NHS England has a published a service specification for pancreatic cancer which clearly defines what it expects to be in place for providers to offer evidence-based, safe and effective pancreatic cancer services. This service specification has been developed by specialised clinicians, commissioners, expert patients and public health representatives to describe core and developmental service standards. The full service specification can be found at: http://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/a02-cncr-panc.pdf The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published updated guideline, Suspected cancer: recognition and referral, in June 2015, to ensure that it reflects latest evidence and can continue to support general practitioner’s (GPs) to identify patients, including children & young people and urgently refer them as appropriate. NICE noted that 5,000 more lives could be saved each year in England if GPs followed the new guideline, which encourage GPs to think of cancer sooner and lower the referral threshold.

Colorectal Cancer: Screening

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2016 to Question 21839, what steps he is taking to ensure that engagement with the National Bowel Screening Programme continues to increase; and what (a) national and (b) local targets his Department has for such engagement.

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2016 to Question 21837, what the average cost to the NHS is of a colonoscopy performed following a positive screening test for bowel cancer.

Jane Ellison: NHS England, commissioners of the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme, closely monitor the coverage rates for bowel cancer screening in all eligible age groups and is committed to increasing uptake and reducing variation across England. Local NHS England commissioners analyse coverage rates within their area and seek to improve uptake by sharing best practice. The Independent Cancer Taskforce published its report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes in July last year, and recognised the importance of early diagnosis and screening. The taskforce recommended an ambition that 75% of people participate in bowel screening by 2020. To facilitate this change, they recommended a change to a new test, the Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) which is an easier to use test than the current Faecal Occult Blood (FOB) test and improves uptake. On 15 January 2016 the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) announced the recommendations it made at its 19 November 2015 meeting. The UK NSC has recommended that FIT be used as the primary test for bowel cancer instead of the currently used FOB test. Ministers are now considering the UK NSC’s recommendation. Information on the average cost to the National Health Service of a colonoscopy performed following a positive screening test for bowel cancer is not held centrally. Information is available in the following table and is from reference costs, which are the average unit costs to NHS trusts and foundation trusts of providing defined services to patients. Reference costs for acute care are published by healthcare resource group (HRG), which are standard groupings of similar treatments that use similar resources.  Estimated average unit cost of a diagnostic colonoscopy reported by NHS trusts and foundation trusts, 2014-15 ProcedureAverage unit costDiagnostic colonoscopy, 19 years and over£519Diagnostic colonoscopy with biopsy, 19 years and over£604 Source: Reference costs, Department of Health  Note:The unit costs shown are the average of costs reported across a range of settings including elective inpatient, non-elective inpatient, day case and regular day and night attenders.

Diseases: Health Education

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to increase public awareness of rare diseases.

George Freeman: The UK Strategy for Rare Diseases was published in 2013 and is currently being implemented across all four countries of the United Kingdom. The UK Rare Diseases Forum monitors the implementation of the Strategy and provides the Department with advice on rare disease policy development, including awareness raising. The 100,000 Genomes Project, a world-leading initiative launched by the Prime Minister in December 2012 has rare diseases as one of its key priority areas.

Colorectal Cancer: Screening

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2016 to Question 21838, what estimate he has made of the cost of (a) training and (b) funding the extra 250 gastroenterologist and 200 non-medical endoscopists that will increase capacity for colonoscopy and endoscopy.

Ben Gummer: The Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU) at the University of Kent produces an annual report which includes the costs of delivering National Health Service services. In doing so, the PSSRU assesses the total cost of training, including to the individual. A link to the latest report, published in March 2015 is included below. http://www.pssru.ac.uk/project-pages/unit-costs/2014/ NHS trusts are responsible for ensuring that they have enough gastroenterologists to provide services to their patients. It will be for NHS providers to meet the employment costs of these staff. Health Education England (HEE) has identified cancer and diagnostics as a priority area for 2016-17. HEE estimates that between £1 million and £1.5 million will be required to fund an additional 200 non-medical endoscopists by 2018.

Motor Neurone Disease

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make changes to the clinical guidelines for motor neurone disease to improve diagnosis and treatment.

George Freeman: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing robust, evidence-based guidance for the National Health Service. NICE is currently developing a clinical guideline on the assessment and management of motor neurone disease, and expects to publish its final guidance in February 2016. NICE is also producing a quality standard on motor neurone disease and its anticipated publication date is August 2016.

Bread: Folic Acid

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his policy is on introducing fortification of bread with folic acid.

Jane Ellison: We are considering all aspects of preconception health as a priority, including the uptake of folic acid. We want children to have the best possible start in life and ensuring optimal maternal health is a key part of this.

Clinical Commissioning Groups

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many clinical commissioning groups in England have published recovery plans in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many clinical commissioning groups he estimates will publish a recovery plan in the next 12 to 18 months; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman: As part of NHS England’s financial management processes, it expects clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) with planned cumulative overspends to provide it with recovery plans. Financial recovery plans may also be requested where a CCG's financial position deteriorates during a financial year. In the past three years the number of CCGs with planned cumulative overspends has been nine in 2013/14 (with 19 actual cumulative overspends at year end), 18 in 2014/15 (19 at year end) and 22 in 2015/16 (29 forecast full year overspends as at November 2015). NHS England has requested CCGs submit final financial plans for 2016/17 by the beginning of April. As in previous years, those planning cumulative deficits will be required to submit or refresh recovery plans. NHS England will not be in a position to estimate the number of CCGs likely to submit recovery plans in 2016/17 until the planning process is further advanced.

Obesity

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many adults were recorded as obese in (a) England, (b) London, (c) each primary care trust in London and (d) each London borough in each year since 2010.

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many children aged (a) four to five and (b) 10 to 11 years were recorded as obese in (i) England, (ii) London, (iii) each primary care trust in London and (iv) each London borough in 2014-15.

Jane Ellison: Data are produced for each local authority and not by primary care trust. Data on obese adults at a sub-national level are available through the Active People Survey and are published as pooled data for the period 2012-2014. The data for adults are from a sample survey (Active People Survey) therefore the numbers of obese adults in the population are not provided. The Active People Survey only began collecting data on adult height and weight in 2012, therefore local authority level data is not available before this date. The proportion of adults classified as obese for England is 24.0% and for London is 20.2%. Data for each local authority are available to download from: http://www.noo.org.uk/visualisation. Data on obese children are collected through the National Child Measurement Programme. The proportion of children measured as obese aged 4-5 years (Reception) in 2014/15 for England is 9.1% and for London 10.1%. The proportion of children measured as obese aged 10-11 (Year 6) in 2014/15 for England is 19.1% and for London 22.6%. Data for each local authority are available to download from: http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB19109 and http://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/national-child-measurement-programme. 95% confidence intervals should be taken into account when making direct comparisons of two different prevalence figures. Where confidence intervals overlap, it is not possible to determine the statistical significance (or otherwise) of the difference.

Mental Health Services: Pregnant Women

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to increase access to specialist community perinatal mental health care.

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to improve the identification and treatment of perinatal mental health issues; and how this will be monitored.

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the announcement by the Prime Minister on enhancing mental health services on 11 January 2016, what the basis is for the figure of £290 million to be invested in perinatal mental health care; how that funding will be allocated; and how the efficacy of that funding will be measured.

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to ensure that clinical commissioning groups (a) improve access to, (b) provide training to health professionals on and (c) increase the number of healthcare professionals working in perinatal mental health.

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what provision there is for people with perinatal mental health issues living in clinical commissioning group areas where there is no specialist community perinatal mental health team.

Alistair Burt: This Government is committed to improving access to perinatal mental health services for women during pregnancy and in the first postnatal year. In January 2016 the Government set out that an additional £290 million will be made available over the next five years to 2020/21, over and above the money identified in the Spring Budget, to invest in perinatal mental health services. This is funded from within the Department’s overall Spending Review settlement and means that in total from 2015/16 to 2020/21 £365 million will be invested in perinatal mental health services. We are aware that there is unacceptable variation in the levels of access to high quality, NICE-recommended specialist perinatal mental health care for women across England. A 2014 census identified that 40% of women in England have no access to specialist perinatal mental health services and that is why we have confirmed this additional investment. The funding should enable significant progress towards closing this gap and will help to enable women across the country to access evidence-based specialist support, in the community or through inpatient mother and baby services, closer to their home, when they need it. It is anticipated that, by 2020/21, around 30,000 more women should be able to access appropriate specialist support. This new funding, together with the recommendations of the forthcoming report of the independent Mental Health Taskforce, will enable NHS England to work with partners to design a longer-term transformation programme to build capacity and capability in specialist perinatal mental health services over the next five years. This will include setting detailed plans for how the additional investment will be targeted over the period to 2020/21 and setting clear outcome measures and metrics to monitor the impact of the funding on perinatal mental health provision. In 2015/16 work is already underway to lay the foundations for this longer-term work programme through targeted funding of activities to build capacity in specialist services. This will include, for example, a £1 million investment in strengthening clinical networks across the country. It is also expected to include the provision of national and regional benchmarking data and analytical support to regions, and work to develop clinical leadership capacity. Work will also continue to support the development of specialist mother and baby units in the regions identified as most in need of new services. To ensure the workforce are available and appropriately trained, NHS England is working closely with Health Education England and key stakeholders to better understand the future workforce commissioning requirements and how it is best to meet multi professional education and training needs.

Pancreatic Cancer

Dr Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of the symptoms of pancreatic cancer.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England’s Be Clear on Cancer campaigns aim to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of specific cancers, and to encourage those with symptoms to see their doctor promptly. A number of factors are taken into account when deciding which campaigns to develop and run, with one of the main criteria being the scope to save lives through earlier diagnosis and whether the cancer has a clear early sign or symptom that the general public can act upon should it arise. Pancreatic cancer is generally asymptomatic at an early stage and it is for this reason that there has not been a campaign focussing on this cancer type to date. Public Health England is also looking to develop an approach to raise awareness of generic symptoms that can indicate a wider number of cancers and the need to visit the doctor promptly with these symptoms. This work is currently in development, with the help of a number of experts, including clinicians and charities.

Blood: Contamination

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure people affected by historical hepatitis C and HIV-infected NHS blood treatments have their views adequately heard in its consultation entitled Infected blood: reform of financial and other support, published in January 2016; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: All those registered with the existing support schemes have been sent letters to make them aware of the consultation. The letter provides details of how to access the consultation both online and in hard copy. Letters were also sent to almost 180 hon. Members who have raised the issue on behalf of their constituents over the past year, to ask them to encourage their constituents to respond. The consultation contains a number of questions to allow people to share their views on the proposals and invites other suggestions.

Magnetic Resonance Imagers

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of open MRI scanners available to the NHS in each region.

Jane Ellison: We do not hold information centrally about the number of open magnetic resonance imaging scanners in each region and so no estimate has been made.

Pancreatic Cancer

Dr Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve early diagnosis rates of pancreatic cancer.

Jane Ellison: Improving early diagnosis of cancer is a priority for this Government. We have committed to implementing recommendation 24 of the Independent Cancer Taskforce’s report Achieving World-Class Outcomes and this will be underpinned by investment of up to £300 million more in diagnostics each year by 2020. The strategy also makes recommendations for speeding up diagnosis of cancers with non-specific but concerning symptoms through the use of multidisciplinary diagnostic centres. NHS England is working with partners across the health system to consider how best to take forward these and other recommendations. Updated suspected cancer referral guidelines by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), including new guidelines for pancreatic cancer, which was published last June will continue to support general practitioners (GPs) to identify patients and urgently refer them as appropriate, where pancreatic cancer is suspected. NICE noted that more lives could be saved each year in England if GPs followed the new guideline, which encourages GPs to think of cancer sooner and lower the referral threshold.

NHS: Land

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many units of (a) housing and (b) affordable housing have been built on each parcel of NHS land sold in London since 2010.

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many sales of land of what value and to whom there have been in each health trust area in London (a) on the open market or (b) below market value in each year since 2010.

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many parcels of NHS land were for sale in each health trust area in London on 1 January 2010.

George Freeman: The Department has only collected data on surplus land sales since 2011. Since then the National Health Service has sold 26 London sites. The names of the sites sold are given in the following table. The Department does not hold information about whether or not sites were sold on the open market, or the final sale price. The Department does not hold information centrally about the number of housing units or affordable homes that have been built. NHS trustSiteWest London Mental Health NHS Trust69 Oakley SquareWest London Mental Health NHS TrustGunnersbury Day HospitalSouth West London and St George's Mental Health NHS TrustHenderson HospitalWest London Mental Health NHS TrustManor Gate Mental Health Resource CentreSt George's Healthcare NHS TrustWolfson Medical Rehab CentreCamden and Islington NHS Foundation TrustSt Lukes HospitalWest London Mental Health NHS TrustBroadmoor Hospital Plot 1South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS TrustNewland House, TwickenhamSouth West London and St George's Mental Health NHS TrustRoselands Resource Centre, New MaldenWest London Mental Health NHS TrustSt Bernards Wing 1Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS TrustUpney Lane Health Centre,Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust16a Cleveland StreetSouth London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust78 London Road, CroydonCamden and Islington NHS Foundation TrustAshley RoadNorth East London NHS Foundation TrustHedgecock Centre 1South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation TrustHubert GroveSouth London and Maudsley NHS Foundation TrustLennard LodgeNorth East London NHS Foundation TrustMascalls ParkWest London Mental Health NHS TrustSouthall/ Norwood Mental Health Resource CentreWest London Mental Health NHS TrustSt Bernards Wing 2Central and Northwest London NHS Foundation Trust17 Paddington Green LondonNorth East London NHS Foundation TrustStonelea (Langthorne Hospital)Royal Free London NHS Foundation TrustBarnet General HospitalRoyal Free London NHS Foundation TrustCoppett's WoodSouth West London and St Georges Mental Health NHS TrustPart Springfield HospitalBarts Health NHS TrustThe London Chest Hospital

Mental Health Services: Children

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant the Answer of 18 December 2015 to Question 20074, on mental health services: children, when he expects that the thematic review will be (a) finished and (b) published.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2015 to Question 20074, on mental health services: children, whether it is planned that the thematic review will consider children who have been abused as a specific theme separate to children and young people more generally.

Alistair Burt: NHS England aims to finalise and publish its thematic review of how the mental health needs of children and young people in vulnerable groups have been addressed as part of the overall Local Transformation Plan analysis by 30 April 2016. A number of thematic reviews have been commissioned as part of the overall analysis of the Local Transformation Plans. One of these thematic reviews focuses on vulnerable groups of children and young people, which will include children who have been abused.

Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2016 to Question 23217, which clinical commissioning groups have provided details of where their plans are published; and where such transformation plans can be accessed.

Alistair Burt: The Local Government Association (LGA) has published a spreadsheet containing a list of all 123 Local Transformation Plans (LTPs), the clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) they cover, and links to where the plans are published locally, where the LGA is aware of this. The list can be found at: www.local.gov.uk/camhs All LTPs were required to be published locally by 31 December 2015, and CCGs have been asked to provide details of where they are published to NHS England as part of the quarterly monitoring process, which will next be collected in February.

Women and Equalities

Females: Directors

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how many meetings she has had with businesses since May 2015 on increasing the number of women on company boards; and who those meetings were with.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how many meetings she has had with chief executives of FTSE 100 companies since May 2015 at which she raised the issue of increasing the number of women on company boards.

Caroline Dinenage: The Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities and I have met with many business representatives since taking on our roles as Ministers for Women and Equalities. We have also met employers and business representatives as part of our plans to introduce gender pay gap reporting and always ensure that we use these opportunities to raise the issue of achieving a better gender balance on boards. This includes attending and speaking at conferences and events, including at the 30% Club and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which represents 190,000 businesses in the UK.Since May 2015, we have met numerous business leaders at conferences and events, including meetings with:Lord Davies of Abersoch CBEBaroness Ruby McGregor-Smith, CBE, CEO, Mitie Group PLC (in her capacity as Chair of the Women’s Business Council)Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith, CBE, CEO, Mitie Group PLCCilla Snowball, CBE, Group Chairman and Group CEO, Abbott Mead Vickers BBDODenis Woulfe, Partner, Deloitte LLPEmer Timmons, President, BT Global Services UKFiona Dawson, Global President, Mars Food, Drinks, and Multisales, Mars FoodSue Langley, OBE, Non-Executive Chairman, A J Gallagher UK, UK Asset Resolution Limited (Northern Rock Asset Management and Bradford & Bingley)Sue O’Brien, OBE, Partner, Ridgeways PartnersAmanda Harrison, HR Director, Centrica PLCI also spoke at the launch of Lord Davies’s final report, which was attended by a large cross section of over 100 businesses.